A Certain Scientific Counter
by Herox100
Summary: In an alternate world, Touma is born with Imagine breaker on his Right hand and another mysterious ability on his Left. See how much events change as he attempts to counter what fate has in store for him all the while Shattering the illusions of those around him. (This is my first Fanfic so I apologize in advance if anything seems off.)
1. Chapter 1

_**In an alternate world, Touma is born with Imagine breaker on his Right hand and another mysterious ability on his Left. See how much events change as he attempts to counter what fate has in store for him all the while Shattering the illusions of those around him. (This is my first Fanfic so I apologize in advance if anything seems off.)**_

**July 17**

Kamijou Touma is what you can call an ordinary guy, he was the type of person you would have a hard time picking out of a crowd. In Academy City a city full of amazing superpowers ranging from shooting electricity to teleporting he was a level 0 meaning he was the lowest on the hierarchy and considered powerless.

However, this was not the case since Touma had an ability that could negate any supernatural events this would be considered a good thing however this ability came at the cost of negating all good luck that came his way. On the other hand (left hand) Touma had the another ability able to counteract any supernatural effect that came into contact with it, however, since both of these abilities were completely useless in any real-world scenario, Touma drew on the short stick in life and that was the reason why he is currently running in woods trying to avoid some thugs who he called out for trying to harass a girl on the street.

"(Ah! Why me! It took me almost an hour to lose those guys and now I have no clue where I am, the fence I jumped to get here said something this place being some kind of preserve but the only preserve I could think of would be in District 21…... You gotta be kidding me I ran over 5 km! Don't panic I just have to retrace your steps and I'll be fine.)"

Touma was not so lucky he spent the next 10 minutes wandering the forest aimlessly trying to find something that looked familiar to help him find his way back when he suddenly heard a girl speak.

"Why not reset everything inside my head? Would that free me from all these heavy thoughts?"

As Touma followed the voice he came upon a young girl looking like she just started middle school lying sprawled on her back, with him being able to see up her skirt, she looked like she was twirling a remote control in her hand. Touma then decided to speak to her about this.

"What are you doing here?"

"What does it matter?" said the golden-haired middle schooler.

"I really don't think you should be doing that," Touma replied referring to how he was able to see up her skirt.

"What, are you with Judgment?"

"No, but…"

"Then what does it matter?"

"Oh, uh… But I really don't think you should be doing that. I guess it's not my place, though."

Touma finally gathered up the courage to tell her about the sights he was witnessing where no person should be able to see.

"I mean… When you're lying all sprawled out like that, I can see right up your skirt from over here. You should really cover-up."

For a moment there was silent and Touma could swear that he saw her entire body change to red in an instant.

"Erase his memories!" she shouted.

Touma was holding his right hand onto his head while she said this.

"HM? I get that you're embarrassed, but why would you think that would erase someone's memories? And who do you think is interested in you and that flat chest of yours? Anyway, I won't tell anyone, so just stand up already."

"What!?" the Golden blonde girl said.

"I-incidentally, can you remind me what I'm wearing today?"

Touma was a little embarrassed to answer this question, but he did so anyway.

"What's with that spider web pattern? Have you thought about something more your age? And does that even cover up the important bits?"

"Erase!"

This went on for about a minute straight with her yelling erase and fiddling with her remote.

"I've erased your memories thirty-eight times now, so why are your eyes still glued to my underwear!? Just how great is your pervert ability!?"

"HM? Wait. Don't tell me you really have a power like that! That's a bit of an overreaction to some panties, don't you think!?"

A puzzled look came over her as she watched the pointy-haired boy hurriedly move back. She felt like she recognized him from somewhere.

"You're the guy who ran into me at the intersection with toast in his mouth."

"I did not have toast in my mouth. Come to think of it, that means you're the one that brought my phone to Anti-Skill. Thanks for that."

Touma remembered that a few days before this he was running late and accidentally ran into this very same middle school student. When he arrived at his destination he only then realized he lost his phone and spent an hour panicking try to find it since phones were not cheap, and he had to rely solely on his weekly allowance given to him by the city (which was not much) to survive. So when he arrived the next day to school to find that Anti Skill had brought it to him he was relieved but part of him was on edge ever since that since there was always a catch to when good things happened to him it only meant something even worse was coming, so he was not that surprised of how he got into this situation in the first place.

"Thank you for that. I can't believe I lost this I was panicking thinking that I would have to buy a new phone"

The girl looked surprised at first and then started to blush, that's when Touma realized the uniform she had on and decided to tease her about it.

"Oh, I get it now. That's a Tokiwadai uniform, isn't it? I've run into a painfully self-conscious little lady, haven't I?"

Touma's joke did not get the response he hoped for. He was hoping for a laugh at some sort but instead received a remote control flying at his face.

"What did you just say!" the girl yelled.

"Nothing"

* * *

Touma then followed the girl as she knew how to exit this forest if it was left up to Touma then they would both would have been lost in the forest for god only knows how long.

"Thanks for showing me the way but I gotta get going there's going to be a sale in the supermarket soon and I can't afford to miss it Bye!" Touma yelled as he ran down the street to the train station.

The girl just stood there for a few moments as she thought this was all just some convoluted way of hitting on her.

She then realized that she also had to go to the train station to get back to her school's dorm before curfew. But she didn't panic as she knew she could get away with it since she could control the minds of anyone (except that boy she just met) including that of the dorm manager. She then reached inside her purse only to discover that it was missing. She just then remembered that she threw the remote at the boy and in the heat of the moment completely forgot to retrieve it.

"Wait!" she yelled as she started running after the boy.

This did not last too long as she only managed to run 1 block until she was completely out of breath. On that day Shokuhou Misaki realized two things always bring more than one remote in case you lose one as well as Never get on the** Dorm Manager's** bad side!

* * *

**July 24**

It had been a few days since Touma had his strange encounter with the blonde-haired girl in the forest and in all that confusion he completely forgot to ask the girl her name. But Touma decided that the important thing was that he said thank you besides what are the odds of him running into her again.

Touma was excited for today since today he would be able to get out of the summer heat and get to go swimming. How would he go swimming you ask, well it's not like Touma had money to spare to go to an actual pool so he had to make do with what he had and that was the Summer City Flood Prevention Program. It was a large-scale test period to ensure the underground mall's drainage equipment worked and the emergency shutters could withstand the water pressure.

The spider web of underground passageways and some above-ground roads were intentionally flooded by guiding river water into them after passing it through water purification equipment. That was the basic outline of the event. This essentially turned all the city's shortcuts into flowing pools and the students swam all around with their wallets and stationery in waterproof bags. It wasn't the fanciest kind of pool but it was still something and Touma would finally be able to enjoy a nice relaxing swim to get out of the heat. That is however until he spotted a familiar blonde figure wearing a school swimsuit in the middle street looking like a deer in the headlights. Rotten Luck.

"What are you doing dropping down in the middle of the street? You don't have heat stroke, do you?"

The girl turned around and saw the same spiky black-haired boy she met only a few days ago.

"You're the guy who made me lose my remote after I so graciously helped you find your way out the forest!"

"The name's Kamijou Touma, Golden girl." Touma didn't know the girl's name but saw this as the best way to do so as girls hate being called nicknames and would usually respond with their actual names.

"I am the great Shokuhou Misaki!" That young lady of Tokiwadai Middle School immediately shouted back in an all-out rejection because she feared having that weird nickname stick with her forever.

"Okay, Shokuhou what are you doing standing around in the middle of the street?"

"I was having a bad time having to walk back to my dorm through the incredibly hot sun but, now that you're here you can finally pay back the debt you owe me for making me lose my remote"

"EHHH?! What debt you're the one who threw the thing at me it's not my fault if you don't take better care of your stuff!"

She then narrowed her eyes "Fine, then I'll just have to go to Anti Skill and report that I threw my remote at some predator who followed me into the forest."

Touma immediately knew what the situation would look from an outside perspective, and he could only see it only ending with him on the type of registry where no man wants to find themselves on.

"Fine, I'll pay you back. How much does the stupid thing cost anyway?"

"150,000 yen"

"WHAAAAAAAAAT!? Why the Hell does that stupid remote even cost that much! That's more than half my savings!"

"It's specialized equipment built by a private lab to help me channel my ability."

"Well, I don't nearly have enough to cover that. How the hell can you even afford that?"

"Well the research facility I go to provides these for me actually, but even if they didn't this is pretty standard equipment and isn't as extravagant as the other ones that's why I customize my remotes" She then presented one of her remotes to show it had a star engraving on it.

* * *

In the end, Touma could not talk his way out of this situation and reluctantly agreed to help Shokuhou with her problem she said she wanted someone to accompany her through the underground passageways but from Touma's perspective he knew the undeniable truth. She couldn't swim.

"Hmph. You have the privilege of accompanying Mental Out Shokuhou Misaki, one of Academy City Level 5s, so this will naturally be the highlight of your otherwise dreary summer break."

"Level 5?"

"That's right."

"Mental Out?"

"That's right! Do you have a problem with that!?"

"Y-you've gotta be kidding. But the rumors said the Level 5 with the greatest mental powers was a young woman with an amazing body!"

"I am a young woman! I have always been the most mature one in my class!"

Touma gave her a look mixed with disappointment and disbelief.

"Listen, little girl. When I refer to a young woman, I mean someone who manages a student dorm and has the tolerance to give anyone advice if they want it. And there is one thing you lack as far as that's concerned. Do you know what that is, little girl?"

There was no way she could, so she gave him a confused look, and he answered.

"Those common breasts of yours disqualify you from providing the support of a young woman. Give up and try again later."

"What!?"

But before Shokuhou could give him an answer she was hit square in the face with a child's beach ball. The entire section of the underground passage went silent as they all saw her get smacked with the beach ball they could all see the danger that awaited them excepted the one young man who spoke up.

"Jeez I know you're trying the fact that you can't swim, but this goes way beyond that are you just all around hopelessly unathletic. Your like one of those people who makes part-time lifeguards jobs hell by accidental drowning in the kiddie pool"

"eh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh."

There were very few moments where Touma felt actual fear. Throughout his whole life, he was struck with misfortune after misfortune getting chased by thugs down the street never actually scared him anymore since it was more like a common occurrence to him, like a stuntman not being afraid of heights after a doing it for years. But in this instance, he could feel the very essence of dark aura emanating from Shokuhou. She no longer cared about maintaining appearances.

"I'll erase your memories! I'll erase every single memory of my pathetic lack of ability!"

"Wait! Aren't you being a little tyrannical here!?"

Touma was included in this list but instinctively grabbed his head with his right hand to remain safe. All the people who saw Shokuhou's utter failure had stars appear in their eyes and had a blank look on their face and after a few seconds. They began to move again as though nothing happened.

"What did you do?"

"It's my ability Mental out it allows me to control anyone's...scratch that almost anyone's mind since now it seems like you are the only person I met who can naturally overcome my power. Why is that exactly?"

Touma thought for a moment on what he should say if he told her the truth it would only make her ask more questions. Touma didn't mind if people knew about his powers except if those people were keen on trying to fight him. Eventually, he realized that if he didn't tell Shokuhou the truth, she would make it her mission to find out but that didn't mean Touma had to give it up so easily.

"I'll tell you on one condition, however"

"Which is?" Shokuhou said while raising her eyebrow in suspicion.

"You have to let me teach you how to swim."

"WHAAAAA!? Why on earth would you want that in all things" Shokuhou never even imagined that Kamijou would ask for something like this? She was expecting him to ask for money or even a future favor from her but never this.

"That's easy. It's because it's dangerous not knowing how to swim when literally 80% of the world is made up of water plus it looks like you could use the exercise. No offense."

"First of all the world is made up of 71% of water, second off what do you mean I look like I could use exercise," Shokuhou said while glaring daggers at Touma.

"You just got hit in the face by a beach ball coming at you, at 2 miles (3.22 kilometers) an hour. A child could have blocked that better than you, besides aren't you from Tokiwadai, isn't it setting a bad example to the other students if you of all people, a level 5 can't swim"

Shokuhou looked at Touma shocked as what he was saying was partially true she was a level 5, and she couldn't do something as basic as even stay afloat in 1 meter of water without having to resort to us someone as a floatie. Her pride as not just a student but as a woman was on the line, normally she would just erase the minds of anyone who saw her doing something that was displeasing but in the process of doing so was also erasing the opportunity that she had to grow. Not this time.

"Fine I'll accept the terms of your arrangement and I hope that you will keep your end of the bargain"

"Don't worry I always keep my promises so let's get started."

* * *

What followed could only be described in one word pathetic. Touma greatly underestimated Shokuhou's lack of athletic ability as she almost drowned twice while only treading a meter high waters. Both times she quickly erased everyone's memories in the general vicinity and quickly regained her composure. After about two hours of what could be called training, Shokuhou was finally able to at least be able to float safely in the water by herself.

"Look at this I'm actually swimming! I never knew…Ahem. I mean I always knew I could do this" Shokuhou said cheerfully as Touma watched.

"Well, it seems that you now know the basics of how to swim. At the very least I don't have to worry about you drowning in your bathtub or anything" Touma said while slightly chuckling

This, however, did not go unchallenged as the very second he started chuckling he was besieged by an onslaught of splash attacks from Shokuhou. This was the beginning of what will now be known as the aquatic splash war.

* * *

After the war had finally come to a conclusion an armistice was finally met upon where Touma would allow Shokuhou to get one free shot at him if she stopped the war. Finally, the pair exited the underground passageways and made their way to the entrance to the Garden district they said their goodbyes as boys were not permitted on the premises.

"Thanks for today it was really fun I can't remember another time when I finally got to be… It was really fun." Shokuhou said while turning slightly red

"No problem I'm glad I could help it was fun hanging out with you to golden girl"

"My name is Shokuhou Misaki don't you ever forget. I'm willing to overlook this little transgression this time since you did me a great service but, don't you ever forget it," she said while pointing her finger at Touma

"Okay well I'll see you later Shokuhou and try to keep the controlling the populace at the minimum please"

"I shall not make any promises that I cannot keep. I'll see you later Mr. Kamijou" Shokuhou said while waving to Kamijou as he walked off.

(That was surprisingly fun I never would have expected it to be that much fun I mean sure it was humiliating at first having to have him watch me as I flailed about but in the end, I finally learned how to swim) Shokuhou thought to herself.

As she walked through the hallways to her dorm she couldn't help but thinking that she had forgotten something important. It wasn't until it was past curfew and she was on her bed about to go to sleep when she realized what she had forgotten.

"THAT SNEAKY LITTLE!" Suddenly she heard the door to her room swing open and on the other side was the infamous Dorm Manager

"Do you care to finish that sentence miss Shokuhou" a dark aura emitted from her

(What did Kamijou call it again oh yeah)

"Rotten Luck"

* * *

**July 30**

It has been a rough few days for Shokuhou not only did she get punished for behaving unladylike, but she also lost the chance to finally figure out why Kamijou was immune to her powers. She knew that Kamijou did not trick her since from what she saw he was an honest guy who probably just forgot about the deal, and she couldn't blame him since she had also forgotten about the arrangement and just had fun learning how to swim. She was walking through the park as she noticed a familiar spiky-haired young man sitting on the bench under the shade of the tree reading a book of some sort with a box lying beside him. She quickly grew curious and walked towards him.

"What are you reading?"

"Oh hey, Shokuhou I was just reading this book on baking. My upperclassman suggested I take a home economics course since she saw that I wasn't getting anywhere in my regular studies and it helped out. Upperclassman sure are amazing! High school girls can do anything! They can ride motorcycles, work part-time, and casually answer anything you ask. Taking that step from middle school to high school really is amazing. She's such an adult!"

"What!? Are you trying to piss me off!?"

Shokuhou had only just entered the middle school zone this year, so she did not like the sound of that theory. It made her feel several levels behind.

However, she was still curious as to what was in the box next to Touma.

"What's that?" she asked as she pointed to the box

"Oh I was just practicing some recipes in the cookbook and decided to give some to the upperclassman who helped me out do you want one?" Touma reached for the box and took the lid off it revealed a box's perimeter was lined with ice packs to keep what was inside cool and in the center was a collection of sweet dessert items that made Shokuhou almost drool.

"You made all of that? How long ago did you start learning how to cook?"Shokuhou asked.

"I started in the middle of my last year and kept practicing ever since, so which one do you want?"

As Shokuhou eyed the container she ran through each of her options and eventually decided of the parfait. When she took her first bite it was as if the rich creamy flavor of the desert danced inside of her mouth. Touma saw this as a good sign since if someone from Tokiwadai liked it, then surely his upperclassman would also enjoy it.

"So do you like it"

"I suppose it's acceptable," Shokuhou said while looking away from Kamijou not wanting him to see the look on her face right now.

"Wow! I think that's the highest praise that you've ever given me"

"Don't get too full of yourself! I give credit where credit is due, you can ask anyone in my clique about that"

"Your clique?" Kamijou asked with one eyebrow raised

"Yeah, my clique you know a small group of people, with shared interests or other features in common or in my case a large group of sophisticated individuals whose purpose it is to serve me their Queen."

"Wait you're telling me all that stuff you said before about being called the Queen of Tokiwadai was true."

"Of course it was why would I lie about something about that"

"You know that sounds an awful lot like a gang right"

….

"WHAT DID YOU SAY! How dare you accuse me of being some sort of petty gang leader, my girls are nothing like those unrefined heathens and even speaking about them like that is heresy!"

"You can put whatever sort of fancy title you want on yourself but at the end of the day from an outside perspective it looks like your running a gang"

"First of all that is ridiculous my girls and I don't run the school in fear like those pretty thugs do, we simply collect information, we're a closed group of people in a particular field, having a controlling influence on the social hierarchy at school, nothing as primitive as a gang."

"Now that you word it like that your right you guys are not much of a gang at all"

"Thank you, you've finally seen the error of your ways and-"

"You guys sound more like the Mob to me"

This last line left Shokuhou speechless as what she had just explained to him in her own words was the actual definition of the Mafia. She then pictured herself in a table surrounded by her girls in a 1950s type clothing all wearing a trench coat with Shokuhou at the head of the table. Needless to say, Shokuhou did not exactly take the news very well as she sat back down on the bench looking despondently at the ground. This sight made Touma feel like human garbage, he was just trying to poke fun at her, he knew that while Shokuhou was a little rough around the edges that she was still a young girl and didn't truly wish any malice on anybody.

"Hey you know I was kidding right?"

"No…. I hate to admit it but you're right about my actions. And now that I look back on it, it is like I'm running some sort of mob. Am I a bad person?" she said while looking Kamijou straight in the eyes for confirmation.

"Well that's not really up to me or you to decide if you're a good person"

"What do you mean?" Shokuhou asked tilting her head slightly

"That's something for your friends to decide while we were talking you seemed more upset about me making fun of them than I was at you, that shows that you truly care about them and that you shoulder the burdens as if they were your own. But if it was really up to me then I'd say you were somebody who seemed as though they would rather help other people than really help yourself and that by definition is what makes a person good, but there is no real good or bad, all the people I've ever met were just misguided in a way. It was an Illusion they put on themselves to justify their actions."

As Shokuhou looked at the boys face she did not see deceit or even pandering all she saw was genuine honesty this boy was not lying to her in any way but was just telling her what he truly believed and this for a brief moment made Shokuhou forget about all the other times she saw people lying to her just to courier favor with her whether it be researchers who only wanted to use her or just regular people looking at a Level 5 as a way to get status. But not this boy she could see it in his eyes and in the way he carried himself about he wasn't trying to impress her he was just being himself around her and this made Shokuhou heart flutter for a brief moment as she realized that she too was being herself for once around another person.

"Thank you. I …. Needed that."

"Ahh, I don't deserve any thanks. All I did was tell you what I thought was true."

"I know and for that I thank you. It's refreshing you know to finally be able to talk to someone so candidly like this"

"I don't exactly know what you're talking about, but if you feel better than that's all that matters"

"Ha! I knew you were going to say something so Noble, but you must excuse me I have other business to attend to today"

"Oh okay then I guess I'll be seeing you around then Shokuhou"

As Shokuhou was beginning to get up from the bench she remembered about the promise the two had made prior.

"Say Kamijou are you a man of your word?" Shokuhou said with a slight grin on her face.

Touma was hesitant at first to answer but did so anyway seeing no real reason as to why not to.

"Yeah, I'll always try to keep a promise that I make. Why do you ask"

"July 24 you and I made a promise that if I allowed you to teach me how to swim that you in return would tell me the reason as to how you can resist my ability"

"Ohhh! I completely forgot about that I'm sorry. Well, the reason I'm able to resist your ability is-"

"Not right now. I just told you that I have other matters to attend to today and I can't have myself distracted by trying to understand the reasoning behind your ability." Shokuhou stated in a tone of authority.

"Then what do you-"

"In two days we will meet here again at noon I will make sure I have my schedule clear and you best do the same"

"So what is this like a date?"

For a brief moment, Shokuhou felt her entire body turn red at this response.

"Of course not! It's simply two individuals keeping their word with each other, don't read too much into it!"

"Relax I was only kidding. Two days huh…."

Shokuhou was on edge waiting to hear his response

"Sure, I don't have any plans for that day so okay"

Shokuhou heart fluttered from that response, and she meekly replied

"Okay so it's a promise in two days we will meet here again"

"Yeah. So I guess I'll see you in two days."

Just then Touma looked down at his watch and realized that he was late for an important sale at the supermarket again and leaped from the bench.

"Rotten Luck I'm late."

Touma then dashed to the park exit, so he could make it on time to the sale.

"Bye Shokuhou it was good seeing you again take care!" he shouted while still running towards the exit.

(That boy right when I think I have him figured out he does something like this and makes me see something that I haven't seen even myself yet. Oh, it looks like he forgot to bring his box of deserts. I don't think he'll mind if I take this as payment for my remote.) Shokuhou thought to herself.

(I can't wait for our next rendezvous but now I have something more important to do I have to start looking into my girls and make sure they know that this is not a one-sided relationship maybe I'll start with Junko. She is one of my closest confidants. Maybe I'll share some of these deserts with her)

As Shokuhou walked away she began to eat another one of the deserts from the box

"I should thank Touma when I meet him again for making these. They are quite delicious."


	2. Chapter 2 Save the Date

**Thank you, everybody, for your advice I have tried to fix the mistakes I did in the last chapter but I'm still learning but even so, I hope you will enjoy it.**

**Save The Date**

**August 1**

It's been two days since Shokuhou had seen Touma and in that time she had completely restructured her clique, no longer was the clique structured in a way that can be seen as tyrannical. Now each of the members of her clique can have the privilege of having tea with her during the afternoon interchangeably, of course, there were only so many people that could fit into one table and Shokuhou really hated a large audience while she ate. She had also expressed the fact that she cared about all the members of her clique and would to the best of her ability, help them in whatever way she could. This sudden change in direction actually led more people than ever to start joining her clique as most other cliques at Tokiwadai were mostly one-sided with leadership that could be called abysmal at best. Sufficient to say she was pleased that she took Touma's advice to heart and could not wait to tell him that when she saw him again today.

As she sat there at the bench covered in the shade of the tree she thought about all the things that Touma and her could do together she had planned this day to the very last detail she would ask him to take her to the carnival only a few blocks east of the park then she would thank him for the food he had so graciously offered to her, and then they would go to one of the park benches to continue their discussion. If Shokuhou was anything she was a good administrator as she had to be in order to manage such a large clique. It was only after she sat there for 30 minutes that she started to get worried.

(He didn't forget did he? I know many things could happen in just two days, but he wouldn't have forgotten about me already right)

Just then Shokuhou looked down at her phone shocked to have realized that it was 11:30. She had shown up a half hour earlier than she was supposed to and suddenly started to become flustered and started to unconsciously spoke her mind.

"Stupid. Stupid. Stupid"

As she continued her verbal assault on herself she looked up in horror as she heard a familiar voice in the background.

"Who's Stupid? Touma asked.

"Why are you here?!"

"Didn't you tell me that you wanted to meet me here?" Touma asked the panicking youth.

"I mean what are you doing here so early I did say to arrive at 12:00 pm, not 11:30"

"Oh well considering my luck I knew that if I tried to get here at 12 that I would have gotten here late so instead I decided to come here earlier. Good thing too because on my way here I got forgot my wallet and keys in my dorm and was locked out for a good 15 minutes if it wasn't for me giving a spare key to my friend I would have had to wait over an hour for the locksmith to show up. Then after that was done with I accidentally stepped on a dog's tail and had to run for at least 5 blocks for it to lose interest and then I was finally able to make it here." Touma said nonchalantly

Shokuhou face was one mixed with disbelieved and shocked, what kind of odyssey does this boy go through every day for him to say this without batting an eye. If she didn't know him better she would have thought him a liar.

"By the way, you know why I'm here so early, but what are you doing here now?"

"Oh well I had business in the area to deal with and it just happened to finish earlier, so I decided to come here I also just arrived a few moments before you did" Shokuhou said trying to pass off this farce, and she would have gotten away with it too if it wasn't for the fact that she said this all while looking away from Touma.

Touma may be one of the most oblivious people to have ever walked on the face of the planet but even so, he wasn't a complete idiot and knew Shokuhou well enough to know that she was just trying to save face. Normally Shokuhou was an excellent manipulator being able to read people even without the use of her ability but for some reason this boy was different.

"Yeah okay," Touma said unconvincingly

"Anyway since we're both here earlier why don't we just start now instead?" Touma suggested

"NO!" Shokuhou protested

"Why not though, I mean we're both here right now what's the harm in just starting earlier"

The truth of the matter was that most of the carnival events that she wanted to take Touma to only occurred after 12 PM and going any earlier would only run the risk of ruining what was supposed to be her perfect day. Shokuhou did not like having to improvise in the heat of the moment, she would rather carefully plan everything out ahead of time like a game of chess. Too many variables could go uncounted for if she rushed in head first without thinking, she knew this from first-hand experience.

"Because," Shokuhou said

"Because why?" Touma asked

The fact of the matter was that Shokuhou could not think of any legitimate reasons as to why they couldn't have their conversation right now as she ran it through her head every answer she would give for having them wait around would only seem suspect and even if she got him to agree what were they supposed to do for the remaining 30 minutes just sit there in silence, in the end, she caved in and they began to have their discussion while making their way to the carnival.

"Ohh, so we are going on a date," Touma said teasing the young girl

"What! I told you to stop reading too much into this it is just I rather have this conversation in a better setting that's all" Shokuhou said sternly while blushing.

"Okay, Okay I'll cut back on the teasing. So what do you want to do first?"

"Well we were supposed to go to the 12 PM show but now I guess we can't," Shokuhou said under her breath.

"What was that?"

"Nothing. I guess we could just go ahead and get some food from the vendors while we have our discussion" Shokuhou said sounding like someone who was forced to pick the lesser of two evils.

"Okay so what do you want to get"

"I wouldn't be against kettle corn it is a special occasion, after all, it's not every day you get to go to a carnival you know"

"Oh yeah, you go to Tokiwadai so you don't get to go out much past the gardens right?"

"It's true most of the girls at my school have limited to no interactions to members of the opposite sex but in my case I have to venture out since the research facility I am a part of is not located in the Gardens, so I would have more experience in dealing with these types of events, such is the plight of a Level 5."

But when she turned around she had noticed that Touma had already left to go wait in line to buy the kettle corn. She stood there in silence for a few moments trying to process the events that had just occurred she had just talked to herself in front of a large group of people with everyone giving her looks as if she was some sort of child talking to an imaginary friend. She then quickly reached into her purse and began to erasing everyone's memories of her making a fool of herself and making the crowd disperse to leave both her and Touma alone.

"Okay, I'm back with the kettle corn. Where did everybody go?"

"I don't know what you're talking about?" Shokuhou said while looking Touma dead in the eyes, but then she realized that the boy had forgotten something very important.

"Instead of wondering where everybody went why don't you start wondering why you didn't get any drinks"

"Oh your right I'll be right back"

(Honestly, that boy can be so dense sometimes but I guess that's part of his charm….wait charm? What am I thinking I came here to gather very important information that could be used to help me in the future, not because of a …. But then again I did plan all of this out as though it were a …. No this is a very common practice in most meetings there nothing wrong about this don't read too much into this…...AHH.) Shokuhou thought to herself while eating the kettle corn not realizing the impending danger that was coming towards her in the form of her worst enemy.

Before Shokuhou even noticed she was completely surrounded by pigeons preventing her from trying to run when she finally did notice she said something that only seemed natural given the predicament she was currently in.

"Rotten Luck"

* * *

When Touma returned he could only see what he described as a massacre it was Shokuhou desperately flailing kettle corn bag around in hopes of scaring away the pigeons away only to be met with more and more of them it was like watching a person trying to put out a fire by throwing gasoline on top of it.

Touma immediately jumped in and began shooing away all the pigeons but realized this was a lost cause since Shokuhou threw all the Kettle corn on the floor already, so he did the next best thing and safely led Shokuhou out of the massacre.

"I look away for just a second to get some drinks and this is what happens! What are you even doing!?"

"But… I… That wasn't my fault! I was the one attacked by the park pigeons!"

"This goes beyond simply being unathletic."

"What!?"

"This gives me some serious deja vu. Do you have the same tendencies for attracting bad luck as I do?"

"N-no, I don't. A perfect queen like me would never have that kind of negative ability it would only bring ruin to her kingdom" Shokuhou spat out flustered at what Touma had just suggested, but wondered if it was true.

She then noticed that Touma was holding a plastic bag in his hand and wondered what it could be.

Touma then noticed her looking and an idea came to his head as he went rifling through his bag, and he pulled out a silver whistle in a plastic bag and handed it to the slender girl who still had feathers on her summer uniform and in her hair. It resembled the kind of whistle used for soccer matches and the like, but it had likely been customized for emergencies. She could use it to let people know where she was if she was stranded or buried alive.

"Here they gave me this at the stand where I got the drinks, so take it you need to have something like this with you at all times otherwise I'd be worried"

"What do you mean by that?"

"Use it if you're in trouble. It might give me more chances to save you."

Once she took it, she realized she had already been pretty well tamed by him. She would never have admitted it, though.

She began to put the whistle around her neck when she felt as though she was a cat and with a bell around its collar. She then put the whistle in her mouth to test it out when a thought arrived in her head.

(Wait did he use this already and if so would this be an indirect kiss?)

She looked at Touma and realized he was yawning, she felt like hitting him, but she had enough self-control to know that, that wasn't a reasonable response I mean he did offer it to her out of the goodness of his heart. And besides, he had just gotten this, the odds of him actually using this were slim to none.

"Will this thing really be any help?"

"Who knows. But it should be easier on the throat than screaming. I tried it out once on the way here and it was really loud."

A horribly distorted whistle rang throughout the carnival.

An indirect kiss was an indirect kiss after all.

* * *

After a few minutes of trying to calm Shokuhou down after their accidental first indirect kiss, they eventually sat down another bench and began to discuss why they both came here in the first place.

"Ahem okay now that we have gotten all the pleasantries aside," Shokuhou said trying to pretend that all the awkward situations that had just occurred never happened in the first place.

"It's time to get straight to business. First off I would like to thank you for showing me that the way I carried my clique about was wrong and I would like to assure you that I have already started to make changes within it to rectify the problem that was there."

"That's good to hear I hope it all works out for you and your friends," Touma said.

"It has and in fact, many of the other cliques in school have decided to assimilate with mine and now we are currently the biggest faction of Tokiwadai I would have never had been able to it without you."

(Why do I feel like I just helped in creating a bigger problem for the world) Touma thought to himself while looking at Shokuhou.

"Yeah and I would also like to thank you for the desserts that you made for me and my friends they really appreciated the gesture and it helped show them that I was serious about changing up how the clique was structured"

"That was you! I didn't realize I forgot it until I was all the way to the store. I spent over an hour searching every inch of that park thinking I lost it, eventually I gave up and had to tell Kumokawa-senpai that I lost it." Touma said in an accusing tone of voice.

This caught Shokuhou off guard since ever since she knew this boy he was always calm and mellow, but she was also slightly glad since at the very least it showed that he was human.

"First of all get the notion of me stealing the box out of your head at once, it was you who was irresponsible enough to forget to bring the box with you while you ran away. Secondly, I only took the box since it was better than leaving it out there on the park bench where who knows what could have happened to it, and lastly would you have preferred that I throw out perfectly good pastries then giving it to my friends, are you really that cold-hearted?"

"Well no I-"

"Exactly I chose the best course of action available at that time, you were already way to far ahead of me for me to reasonably be able to catch up to you and I had no way of contacting you since I never got your phone number and besides weren't you the one who said you were glad that I took your advice to heart and decided to change my outlook."

"Well yes."

"So why is it that you are upset that I took the necessary steps to help change my clique for the better, would you have rather I did nothing and let things go on with how they used to be?"

"Alright you win, I'm sorry that I got upset at you earlier" Touma admitted defeat since he knew that an argument with Shokuhou would only end in one way.

"Thank you"

"Besides she was pretty understanding of my situation given my bad luck."

This sentence made Shokuhou eyes shoot wide open as she slowly took in what he had just said to her.

(She?!)

"This Kumokawa you speak of wouldn't happen to be a girl, right?"

"No she's not a girl... she's a young woman," Touma said in a matter of fact tone not knowing the dangers that just arose from him having answered that question

Immediately after finishing his sentence Shokuhou stared daggers at Touma.

"So out of curiosity what is the full name of this upperclassman you have been talking about?"

Not seeing the obvious problem in the situation Touma answered honestly.

"Kumokawa Seria"

(Mental note search up information on this Kumokawa Seria)

"Okay getting back on the main reason were both here I believe you promised to tell me how you were able to resist my ability," Shokuhou said regaining the composure she had before.

"Oh yeah, I keep on forgetting. Well, the main reason as to why I'm able to resist your mental ability is because of my right hand."

"You're right hand?"

"Yeah, my right hand has the ability to negate anything supernatural that comes into contact with it and when we first met I had my right hand on my head, so I guess it kinda negated your ability"

"The ability to negate other esper abilities I never heard of that one before and that in and of itself speaks volumes of how rare it is," Shokuhou said while curiously looking at Touma's right hand.

"Yeah, that's the only real explanation I can make since I don't think my other ability would have fared any better."

"Wait, other ability, what are you talking about?" Shokuhou asked

"Oh, well while my right hand can negate any supernatural ability my left hand can counter any supernatural ability it comes into contact with."

"Wait, what? Even if I were to believe that your right hand could negate any esper ability it comes into contact with that still doesn't explain your left hand. While it's true espers can have different powers they will always fall under the same category, such as how an electromaster is able to shoot out lighting from their hands as well as being able to manipulate steel both powers look different, but they are controlled through the same medium of being an electromaster. Your powers, however, fall into completely different categories with one being able to negate esper abilities while the other is able to reflect. It makes no sense, how do you even know this?"

"A while back I helped out a kid being harassed by a bunch of thugs and it turned out that one of the thugs was a level 4, so while I was trying to talk my way out of the whole mess he snuck behind me and decided it would be funny if he made me into a living barbecue and threw a fireball at me. Through pure instincts, I used my left hand to block it knowing that it would probably burn my hand clean off, but instead, I heard a reverb type of sound coming from it. Then when I turned around the fireball was heading in the other direction and it was bigger than it was when it was shot at me. I was lucky that my hand wasn't aimed directly at that guy, or he could have gotten seriously hurt."

Shokuhou sat there while holding her hands together and looked like she was in deep thought it took a few moments for her to properly analyze the story that she had just heard and then gave her response.

"I know you are not lying to me, but even so this is quite jarring to hear. I mean what you're telling me defies all known logic. The fact that you can negate abilities in of itself warrants suspicion, but the fact that you can counter Esper abilities is even stranger I have heard of a similar ability but, the ability in question has to do with vectors and as far as I know it doesn't make whatever it came in contact with any stronger and even if it was, it would require complex mathematical equations to accomplish, not something you could accomplish with instincts alone. And no offense but you don't exactly look like someone who can accomplish such mathematical feats based on what I've seen with your tendency to overlook key details."

"I won't argue with you there. Whenever I use my power it seems to do it automatically whether it is negation or countering."

"That also brings another issue to light as to how you are able to counter someone's ability without knowing the formula they use since when you countered the fireball you said that it came into contact with your left hand and then it went in the opposite direction while keeping its original shape"

"I don't really know why like I said I didn't really think about it all that much I just stuck my hand out and hoped for the best"

"Hoped for the best?"

"Yeah I don't really understand how my hands are able to counter or negate something, all I know is that they can."

"But haven't you ever tried to test it out? I know they say ignorance is bliss, but reality says that knowledge is power and understanding how your ability functions can greatly help you."

"I've tried but all of my all of my close friends are level zeros, so they can't exactly help me understand either of my abilities"

"All of your friends… wait a minute what exactly is your level?"

"I'm a level 0, why?"

"... WHAT! How is that possible if what you are saying is true then you would have to be a level 4 at a minimum or even a level 5. How can you possibly be a level zero?"

"Well the way they measure powers makes it look like I have no abilities whatsoever. I mean, to be honest, if I was by myself my power would be completely useless, plus I don't even have an AIM field"

"That's impossible anyone who's gone through the power curriculum emits some sort of AIM field no matter of the level."

"Well I guess I'm the exception to that rule"

Shokuhou sat there still reeling from what this boy had said. He clearly had power, but was unjustly labeled as a level zero due to the fact that scientists could not understand his ability, this alone did not surprise her, it was the fact that the boy didn't seem resentful at his unfair placement.

"Aren't you upset that your a level zero?"

"No, why would I be?"

"Because it's not your fault that Academy city can't get a good reading on your hands, you should be a higher level than a zero"

"I don't see why being a level zero is a bad thing, I mean I don't really feel the need to prove myself in being better than anybody else. I mean I'm just a regular guy"

These words stopped Shokuhou in her tracks, and she began to smile.

"I should have known that you would say something so noble," she said under her breath.

"Sorry I couldn't quite get that"

"Never mind that for now. How would you feel about testing out your abilities?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that through my clique I have access to dozens of different Esper abilities along with the research labs associated with them. I could easily make a few calls and have your ability put to the test, who knows your level might even increase and even if it doesn't you'll at least have a better understanding of your ability."

"I appreciate the offer but, No thanks"

"Why not. You'll be losing nothing as a result of this and only end up gaining more, whether that be through knowledge or even research stipends"

"I'm not gonna lie that does sound tempting but, I'm still going to have to decline"

"But that makes no sense, why would you decline my offer. Is it because of your pride! Do you have a problem receiving help from me?"

"Not at all, it's just because I'm happy being a level zero. I know what you're saying and your completely right, I would have nothing to lose if I accepted your offer, but even so, I'm happy being me, I'm content with having to go to school and hang out with my friends and even being able to help people that I see. I'm happy with being an ordinary guy."

These words deeply resonated with Shokuhou. Before she thought that anyone, when offered the easy way out, would immediately jump on the chance to take it but this man defied all logic he didn't care about status or anything so superficial.

She looked at Touma with awe.

"Kamijou Touma you never do cease to amaze me"

"Uh thanks, I guess" Touma gave her a strange look.

"In any case, I believe this meeting has left me with more questions than it does answers but, in the end, you did fulfill your end of the promise"

"Well I'm glad that's settled so is there anything else you wanted to do while we're here?" Touma asked

"Not currently no. I mean look at me I'm filthy" Shokuhou said referencing her recent run-in with her avian enemies.

"But there is one thing I would like to discuss…,"Shokuhou said.

"What is it?"

Shokuhou looked down for a moment nervous about the question she was going to ask but even more nervous at the response Touma would give her.

"What is exactly is the status of our relationship I mean ….you know.?" Shokuhou muttered out.

"Oh, I guess I would say we're friends" Touma answered

"Friends? But this whole thing just started as you just trying to repay a debt, how can you say we're friends with a straight face?"

"That may be true but it still doesn't change the fact that I consider us friends. I mean not a lot of people take the ideas of strangers to heart enough to actually change how they live their lives, besides this isn't even the strangest way that I made friends, you should have seen how I got to be friends with the other members of the Delta Force"

"Delta Force?"

"Oh it's just what we call ourselves, don't look too much into it"

(Mental note Lookup this Delta Force)

"Well since we're friends I guess proper introductions are in order don't you agree."

"Oh, I get it"

Touma then stood in attention towards Shokuhou and the stuck his right hand out

"My Name is Kamijou Touma, but you can call me Touma"

Shokuhou looked very amused by this as this was one of the first times one of Touma's bits actually landed its mark.

"Greetings my name is Shokuhou Misaki, but you can call me Misaki," She said. While shaking his hand her face turned red.

"Now that we have that out-of-the-way can I get your number in case I ever feel like hanging out again." She said while passing her phone to Touma.

"Sure any day is fine other than this Saturday though," Touma explained while typing his number into Misaki's phone.

"Why is that?"

"Oh I promised Kumokawa-san that I would hang out with her that day as an apology for losing the snacks that I offered," Touma said without really noticing all the signs that screamed danger at him.

"Oh okay….WAIT, WHAT!? What are you planning!?" Misaki demanded.

"Huh, nothing. She just said that she needed help organizing the student council office before the school year starts back up again. Why, what did you think I was going to do?"

"I- Uh. Nothing but as it would seem my schedule is actually clear for that day, so I too shall help you clean the student council office" Misaki declared.

"Oh that's nice but I don't really want to trouble you with this"

"Nonsense we are friends and friends help each other this is just one of those instances and besides it is partially my fault as to why you are in this predicament in the first place."

"Okay then. If it's not a bother to you, I don't think Kumokawa-san would mind the extra help"

"Perfect then I shall see you this Saturday Touma," Misaki said while typing her contact information into Touma's phone.

"Okay, then I guess I'll talk to you later Misaki, bye," Touma said as he waved his hand.

"I see you later Touma" Misaki replied

As Misaki began to walk towards the exit of the park she was thinking of her plan for Saturday. She would have to gather as much information on this Kumokawa that Touma mentioned and look for any weakness that she has so she could exploit them. Misaki wasn't just planning for a battle she was like a general planning for an all-out war on her and the victor would be decided by whoever had the better Intel. She then stopped in her tracks as she heard a familiar voice come up from behind her.

"Miii-saaa-kiii-saan" Touma shouted while coming from behind her. "You forgot to take back your phone"

"WHAT?! W-W-Why did you just say that!" Misaki spat out while turning red.

She wasn't used to people calling her by her name and in such a familiar voice to it was like Touma didn't even care who heard him say it. In reality, Touma just really liked to tease Misaki, and he thought this was the best way to do it and get away scot-free.

"Weren't you the one who said you wanted me to start calling you that, or is the great queen of Tokiwadai going back on her word?" Touma mused.

"O-Of course not! It's just….Nevermind thank you for returning my phone to me"

"No problem what are friends for" Touma then ran off in the other direction.

(That really was sweet of him even if it was a bit embarrassing but, what else should I expect from him he's just like a…)

"Prince."


	3. Chapter 3 Age Before Beauty

**Sorry about the wait and thanks for the comments it took a while to finish up this chapter to get it just right so I hope you all enjoy and sorry if the story has a few grammar mistakes I'm still learning.**

**Age Before Beauty**

**August 6 **

It's been 5 days since Misaki's last outing with Touma and in that time she had made sure to use every resource possible to research this Kumokawa Seria, apparently, she had just started to work under one of the members of the board of directors in academy city, not an easy feat to accomplish. Along with that if her grades were anything to go by it showed that she was a genius and a perfect student, not a single blemish could be found anywhere in sight, if this information was given to anyone other than Misaki then they might have interpreted it as she was the ideal girl perfect perhaps. But not Misaki she could read in between the lines enough to see that this girl wasn't as perfect as she seemed on the outside she could tell that she was hiding a different type of agenda while her grades might be perfect, and she is currently one of the popular girls in her school she could see the cracks in her armor already.

While true currently she seemed to be a Onee-san type girl that wasn't always the case. In fact up until she entered middle school there were no reports of her making any friends if the report her elementary teacher made about her was anything to go by then it would have seemed that her genius-level intellect made it harder for her to connect with her classmates and as a result she would distance herself away from others who she deemed unworthy this also included the teacher, but after the teacher talked with her and gave her the 'importance of friendship speech' she seemed to get along better with her classmates and became a social butterfly.

Now normally you would say that the talk probably resonated with Kumokawa, and she learned her lesson but that's not what Misaki took away from this. To her, it seemed like she was simply tired of hearing that speech and realized that she would not stop hearing unless it looked like she had changed, but in reality, it was all just an act to hide the reality that she really didn't care about anything if it didn't interest her. That's why Misaki had a hard time understanding why someone like her would be interested in her Prince.

Was this genuine affection or did she just see this as another challenge for her to complete? Misaki knew that her Prince was a little dense but even so. As Misaki continued to ponder her motives she came to realize a few things about Kumokawa one she was highly intelligent and enjoyed strutting around her this in order to accomplish her goals. Second while on the outside she seemed perfect this was just a disguise she had constructed herself in order to further her own goals. And lastly given her connections with the board of directors it would seem that she had as big of an intelligence network as Miskai, so she would have to expect that she would see her coming a mile away. To combat this, she would have to be leagues ahead of her to order to win.

As Misaki laid in her room alone thinking about the plan she had formulating she kept having a nagging feeling in the back of her head.

(Even if I'm able to stop Kumokawa's plan, what's to say that Touma would want to be with someone like me?)

Up till this point, Misaki has stopped herself from looking too much into Touma's past in her mind she wanted to earn his trust not abuse it, and she had too much respect for him to go behind his back and research him. So she decided to keep his name out of her clique's investigation. One day she truly wished that Touma would allow her the honor in letting her help him bear his burdens as she knew that Touma would do the same thing without a second thought.

While she was lost in her own thought she heard a knocking on the door to her dorm room.

"My Queen"

"You may come in" Misaki replied

The door suddenly opened to show a slender girl with purple hair done in braids.

"My Queen, you called for me."

"Ah, yes Junko I just wanted to know the status of the mission I gave you earlier."

"Oh, everything is taken care of my Queen you have nothing to worry about."

"Splendid. Now that we have that out of the way I have something I would like to talk to you about".

"With me? Uhh! What's this about my Queen?"

"You know you shouldn't be hiding secrets from me Junko. It makes me upset"

"WHAT? I would never think of doing something of the sort" Junko replied in a panic while turning scarlet.

Just then Misaki pulled out a Gekota shape hairpin from under her bed.

"Uhhh I don't know-"

Before Junko could even finish her sentence Misaki the pulled out a semi-large box from under her bed and then spilled out the contents on the floor revealing dozens upon dozens of different Gekota themed merchandise.

At this point, Junko's face was ghastly pale as she realized that she's been caught. At the last meeting of the Misaki's clique, she asked the clique as a whole if any of them were fans of the Gekota franchise.

For a brief moment, Junko was about to raise her hand but then lowered it as another girl in the background said that nobody would ever disrespect the Queen's clique enough to still support something so childish as it would only make the Queen look childish by association. After this Junko started to hide all of her Gekota merchandise as she did not have the heart to throw them away since it was still a part of who she was. She vowed that she wouldn't let herself drag the Queen's good name in the ground and if she was ever discovered she would accept the consequences and leave the Queen's side as to not tarnish her name. Junko then fell to her knees with a look of regret and sorrow on her face and tears beginning to swell up.

"I'm... I'm so sorry I know that I should have thrown all of those things away since it would only bring shame unto our clique but, I just couldn't bring myself to do it. I know that I deceived you and I know that I abused your trust but…."

Misaki then got on one knee and put her hand on Junko's shoulder and looked at her with warmth.

"You silly girl. You haven't betrayed my trust, I already knew that you were a fan".

"But if you already knew then why did you let me stay?" Junko said as she was gazing up at Misaki's face.

"What sort of Queen would I be if I did not support my friends. I couldn't care less what anyone else thinks of your fascination with Gekota all that matters to me is how you feel. The world could call us both childish but my mind would never change. A Queen will always stand up for her friends and their beliefs no matter how idiotic or childish they may be as long as you are safe and happy that is all that matters to me. Let me worry about what others will say as long as you can be yourself in front of others without having to worry I can be content." Misaki said while looking at Junko with eyes full of sincerity.

At that moment Misaki did not look like a Queen to Junko, she looked like a benevolent goddess.

"My Queen," Junko said while her eyes were starting to fill up with tears of joy.

"There, there," Misaki said while embracing her friend.

"The reason why I asked if anyone was a fan was that I had recently come into ownership of a Gekota themed item"

"Which one?" Junko said while wiping away the tears from her eyes.

Misaki then pulled out a gift box decorated in crimson wrapping paper and handed it to Junko.

"Here it's for you."

"For me?"

"Yes after I finished my da…. Meeting I happened to come across a vendor passing through and this caught my eye and made me think of you, so I purchased it".

"You bought this. Just for me?" Junko said while slightly blushing.

"Yes, now open it"

As Junko gently tore off the wrapping paper as to not damage the gift she had just received from her queen her eyes shot opened with Joy as she realized what her great Queen had just bought for her.

"It's… It's the rumored Gekota wand hair curler there were only ever 4 prototypes made because the intended demographic was deemed too old how'd you ever find something like this, my Queen?" Junko said while bursting with excitement.

"Like I said I happened to find it on my way back from my 'meeting'".

In reality, she had actually researched this product thoroughly enough to contact the manufacturer of Gekota merchandise. Using her 'Persuasion tactics' she managed to get them to make another one of the prototypes and have them deliver it to her after she was finished with her date with Touma. She wanted to find something age appropriate for Junko even though Misaki was alright with her being fan of Gekota she wanted to get her something that the others couldn't find a fault in and that was beauty products and if anyone wondered why she was obsessed with Gekota they could always just attribute it to the fact that it was the gift that Misaki had given Junko. In the end, she even had the member of the clique who insulted anyone who was a fan of Gekota, to gift wrap the Gekota wand hair curler personally and told her not to judge someone based on the pretext of what they enjoy doing in their free time or there would be consequences.

"So do you want me to help you use it?"

"What, really I mean you went through all this trouble just to get me this I couldn't ask you to"

"Nonsense I went to all the trouble in acquiring this for you the least you could do is let your Queen help her friend style her hair," Misaki said in an authoritarian tone.

"Okay," Junko said inattention

After a few minutes of using the hair curler, Junko's hair was finally finished. Her hair was now in the form of a ringlet curl.

"I always knew you would look better with curls" Misaki remarks

"It's perfect," Junko said while looking deeply at the mirror.

Junko went to the mirror to examine her new hairstyle. It was perfect not only was it the fact that it made her look better but also because her Queen did it herself she went through all this trouble just for her. Her Queen didn't just give her a new hairstyle but also a new way to face the world not having to hide the fact that she loved Gekota because she knew that her Queen supported her no matter what she was a fan of.

"I-I don't deserve this… this is just too much, why did you go through all this trouble just for me?"

"Isn't obvious?"

Junko did not know what she was referring to, so she tilted her head slightly

"It's because I wanted to see you truly smile. The reason why I made the clique was to gain influence and power but a certain someone showed me that by doing that I would only hurt the people in the process. I don't want you to have to force yourself to change, that would only make you grow to resent me I want you to be happy being you, not someone who you think I want you to be".

At this point, Junko started to cry tears of joy once more. She couldn't hold it in any longer her Queen who she already thought to be perfect has just made her feel as though she was also perfect being who she is. As this happened Misaki once again held her friend in her arms.

(Honestly, she really puts me through so much trouble) Misaki thought to herself.

"Now enough with the theatrics, I believe it is getting close to curfew and I don't want you to get in trouble with the Dorm Manager" Misaki stated.

At this point, Junko stood up straight and then bowed her head towards Misaki.

"My Queen…. Thank you I promise to serve you with even more devotion than I ever even thought possible" Junko cried out with tears still in her eyes.

Misaki then let out a small smile. As Junko began to leave her room.

"Honestly I believe my prince has started to rub off on me… Then again is that such a bad thing."

* * *

**August 7**

**A Certain Highschool**

The day has finally come for Misaki, and she was determined to win she had planned everything out to the perfect detail and if the need arose she was even ready to improvise though even with all her preparation she still felt nervous for she was about to face off against someone who was exactly like her. As she walked towards the exit of Tokiwadai she made sure to take out her phone and send a group message.

'Is everything ready'.

'Yes my Queen'

This was all Misaki needed to begin her journey to a Certain High School.

When Misaki finally reached the High School and looked around she was a little shocked. The school looked very ordinary even though the pictures she received through her information also said this seeing it with one's own eyes was a different story. She expected her rivals school to be even a little more unique but this looked like any other ordinary high school but even still she would not lower her guard until the battle was over.

As she waited in the courtyard she was greeted by a familiar face it was her prince. Though he looked as though he had just been mugged as his entire ensemble was completely filthy.

"Oh, hey Misaki how's it going?" Touma asked as he waved to Misaki.

"It's going quite well actually, but what happened to you are you alright?" Misaki asked with a concerned look on her face.

"Oh this, Nothing it just so happened that on my way here I helped a little kid get their toy back from a bunch of bullies, and after that I was stopped by the other members of the Delta force, and they asked where I was going, after I explained it to them they both got really mad for some reason and started fighting me it was only thanks to this other classmate of mine Fukiyose that I managed to get out of there. I still don't know why they got upset though?" Touma stated as though this was a common occurrence.

(Mental note, find out who these other members of the Delta Force are and deal with them.)

"Well, I'm glad you're okay, are we still waiting for Kumokawa she isn't late is she that would be so rude of her don't you think.'

"Oh she isn't late I just came here earlier because I knew something like this was bound to happen and I didn't want to be late. Sorry for giving you the wrong time."

The truth of the matter is that Misaki already knew this about her prince since her last date with him. He already stated doing something like this was a common occurrence for him when he wanted to show up on time, and she knew that he was also quite forgetful and would most likely give her the time that he planned to be there not the actual time of the event in question. She planned for this to happen, so she could spend a few minutes alone with her prince.

"It's quite alright really, I know you didn't mean to deceive me on purpose."

"So what do you want to do in the meantime while we wait for Kumokawa-san"

"Well, I guess we could talk until Kumokawa gets here," Misaki said while feigning ignorance.

"Okay, so what did you want to talk about?" Touma asked

"Well let's discuss when you met Kumokawa" Misaki suggested.

"Oh okay. Well, I guess we first met around the time when I first arrived at Academy city. I was just getting used to life here when I met her in the playground. I don't exactly remember the conversation we had, but I remember that after we did she started to get popular and I guess we just drifted apart for some reason I can't exactly blame her though, I mean she was a genius and popular, and I'm just me."

"Nonsense, she would have been lucky to be by your side, and you shouldn't keep putting yourself down like that I don't like it." Misaki rebutted.

"Well, I mean…."

As Touma was about to finish his sentence he looked over at Misaki and saw she was staring daggers at him, so he decided not to continue with his sentence.

"Sorry"

"There is no need to apologize, I just hate it when you keep belittling yourself like that"

"Why though?" Touma asked.

"It's because I …"

But before Misaki could finish her sentence she heard a female voice call out to her.

"Why hello there little girl, what are you doing here?" Kumokawa asked with a tone of false sincerity.

This did not go unnoticed by Misaki as she quickly turned around and started to size up Kumokawa she was wearing a school-issued sailor uniform that wasn't uncommon with this she was wearing a long blouse however this did not cover up her naval region. The outfit completely accentuated her figure with just enough showing so it can be considered modest but with enough showing to get the imagination riled up. As continued her observation she could see a smirk on Kumokawa's face.

"Oh this is the friend that I was talking about Kumokawa-senpai" Touma replied while gesturing towards Misaki.

Misaki then noticed that Kumokawa let out a fake look of shock, she already knew who she was and was just pretending not to in order to keep up appearances.

"Kamijou I know you said you were going to bring a friend along but I didn't expect you to bring a child with you," Kumokawa said with fake concern in her voice.

"She's not a…" Touma began to say.

"I can't in good conscience allow this young girl to stay she might hurt herself trying to lift some of the more heavy objects and while we're on this topic, did you rope this young girl into helping you" Kumokawa started with disapproval.

"It's not… I didn't" Touma began to mutter out as he was not ready for this line of questioning.

"My name is Shokuhou Misaki and I can assure you that Touma did not rope me into anything he is far too noble to ever force someone else to help solve his problems. I was the reason as to why Touma lost the deserts that he made for you and as such, it is my responsibility as a young woman to take responsibility for my actions and see that they are fixed" Misaki said with a tone of authority in her voice.

"My, My well isn't that adorable, but you needn't feel responsible for anything I would have to be cold-hearted to hold such a pretty little girl like yourself responsible and besides you're still just a child I couldn't expect you to have to strain yourself by doing something so taxing as cleaning up the school" Kumokawa said while sounding sincere but with an undertone of superiority.

"It is like you said before since I'm still learning would it not be detrimental to my development if I were to go unpunished for an incident in where I was responsible. Besides, you need not worry about me straining myself I am well aware of my limits and I wouldn't do something that I didn't see myself feasibly accomplishing instead I will help out where I can." Misaki replied.

"Well if you're sure?"

"I am" Misaki calmly replied.

"Well then let's get started shall we."

The two then looked at each other and even without Misaki's ability she could read her loud and clear.

_'It's on.'_

As the two began walking towards the building they realized that they were missing a certain spiky-haired individual.

Touma was still standing where he was originally when he tried to answer Kumokawa's question. Even though he didn't know what was going on his sixth sense told him danger was looming around the corner.

"Kamijou-san aren't you coming?"

"Yeah Touma"

"R-Right. I'll be right here."

(I don't know why, but I've got a bad feeling about this. Rotten luck.) Touma thought to himself.

* * *

When they entered the school Kumokawa explained to them that they were going to be in charge of cleaning the student council room it was a room that was the size of 2 classrooms and just recently the members of the student council had a party and was to put lightly 'quiet lively'.

"Honestly to think that the members of the student council would be so brazen to throw a party and in their own office of all places," Misaki said in a disapproving tone.

Misaki knew that Kumokawa was a part of the student council from her research and wanted to get in a few jabs at her.

"I know what you mean, I wanted to stop them from having the party but sadly I was outvoted. So I chose not to attend, but even so, I offered to clean up after them since I don't want to get them in trouble, to be honest, I was planning on doing this by myself until Kamijou-san offered up his help."

"Really. That's so kind of you, even after going against the whole party, to begin with, you're still offering up your help." Touma stated.

"Of course there my friends, after all, faults and all" Kumokawa said with a smile.

(Damn she's good!) Misaki thought.

"Well prepare yourselves. This is the aftermath of a high school party after all. In fact, Shokuhou you might want to look away just in case you see something your not supposed to" Kumokawa said in a slightly mocking tone. While her hand was on the handle of the student council office.

When Kumokawa did open the door they were all shocked. The entire room was spotless not a blemish in sight.

"I don't understand I thought we were supposed to clean this room, but it seems pretty clean to me," Touma said while inspecting the room.

"I don't understand. When Mikami called me she said that the entire room was in shambles" Kumokawa said.

"I guess your friend must have exaggerated the extent of their party"

In reality, this was all a part of Misaki's master plan she had hired some people the prior night to sneak into the school and clean up the entire student council room before anyone had arrived.

"I guess you might be right Mikami was always a little overboard when she gives out her reports" Kumokawa replied.

"Well if that is everything then I guess me and Touma should make ourselves scarce wouldn't you agree," Misaki said while looking a Kumokawa as though as she was ahead of her in this battle of theirs.

"Nonsense I still want to thank you all for volunteering to help out," Kumokawa said while looking at Misaki with a devious smile on her face.

"You don't have to do that, we didn't actually do any cleaning and-" Touma began to say

"True, but you guys didn't know that you came here expecting to find a giant mess and were prepared to help me clean it and for that, I believe you two deserve a reward. As they say, it's the thought that counts, isn't that right Kamijou-san?" Kumokawa said.

"Well, what did you have in mind?" Touma asked.

"Well since we have the school all to ourselves I suppose we can make our way to the home economics room and you can show me how much you have improved in the kitchen"

"Okay. I guess that seems like fun" Touma said as the three left the student council room making there way to the home economics room.

"Are you sure we're allowed to do this" Misaki said questioning Kumokawa plan

"Of course we are you needn't worry about a thing, all student are allowed to use the Home economics room in the school if they clean up after themselves afterward and if there's any problem I'll just have to pull rank," Kumokawa said while smiling at the two of them.

When the three finally arrived at the home economics room they were met with an unusual sight the entire room was empty save for the chairs and the heavy duty cooking stations.

"What happened here?" Touma said as he began to scan the entire room looking for any remnants of ingredients that may have been left behind.

"Oh that's right, this week was the week that the school staff did inventory, so I assume that they took all the ingredients to do a headcount in the school cafeteria kitchen, you probably didn't know this since they would usually do this on days that students weren't here, as to not interfere with the home economics class. Though I do believe they are already done doing stock so it should be alright for you to go to the cafeteria's kitchen and get whatever ingredients you need to make your dish." Kumokawa said while tossing her keys to Touma

"Wait, just me?" Touma asked.

"Yes, I wouldn't know what to look for if I went there and besides it'll be faster if you went there by yourself anyways. Take the cart over there to carry the ingredients you'll be using".

"I mean, are you sure you want me to go alone, with your master key?"

"Of course, I trust you"

"I agree, you're far too noble to do anything uncouth" Misaki added

Touma simply nodded and took the cart and headed towards the school's cafeteria not knowing of the danger that was going to come about with him leaving.

As the two girls waited for Touma to be out of earshot to begin their real discussion Kumokawa was the first to speak up.

"Well, I say we have about 20 minutes until Mr. Kamijou is able to come back here with the ingredients."

"Cut the theatrics we both know what's really going on here" Miskai stated

"Really do we now Shokuhou Misaki AKA Mental our fifth-ranked level 5."

"So my reputation precedes me"

"I have to be honest, I was quite surprised that Kamijou was able to grab the attention of someone like yourself, but this will end the same way as it always does."

"And that is?"

"With my victory of course little girl," Kumokawa said with a grin on her face.

"Oh, really now and how do you suppose that is?"

"Because you were not first and you will certainly not be the last person to fall under that boy's charm"

"While that might be true, I can assure you that you have never met someone like me."

"Let me guess, Kamijou saved you while you were in trouble and now you fooled yourself to think that the two of you were meant to be"

"I am already well aware of my prince's habit of saving those in distress and it's one of the many noble qualities that attracted me to him in the first place"

"HaHa, Prince! That's almost as funny as when I heard that those fools at Tokiwadai actually call you Queen" Kumokawa said in a mocking tone.

"Don't you dare insult my clique you…. Old Hag" Misaki rebutted.

"Ohh, so we've resorted to name-calling now. To be honest I was wondering when you'd show your true colors I mean you were the one who hired that cleaning crew to clean up the student council room"

"I'll admit that was my doing as I had no intention of sullying my hands with the filth of what your student council called entertainment but while we're on the topic of honesty, you were the one who orchestrated the party to being with weren't you?"

"Ha! I have to admit I had no idea that it would go that well, a few carefully placed suggestions here and there and the fools actually believed that it was their idea, and there I was the lone council member who was against the whole idea, who benevolently offered to clean up after those idiots and I come out looking like the hero, so what gave it away?"

"Your timeline. You told Touma that you needed his help to clean up the student council room 5 days ago, however that would make no logical sense, if you needed help to clean up after a party that hasn't happened yet that would make sense, however what that does not account for is your certainty that the party in question wouldn't be discovered by anyone including the staff and other students. While I admit there is a small possibility that the other members of the student council would keep quiet about there party that doesn't seem to be the case as when I conducted my own research into the matter none of the other members of the student council ever even knew about a party it was almost as if it was planned at the very last minute by someone who wanted a wild party. And from the description, I received from the cleanup crew some items in question from the party could not have been acquired without at least a week's notice around here the same time my prince so graciously offered his assistance to you. But in all honesty, did you really think bringing a mechanical bull was necessary?"

"Ha, but of course I wanted to see those idiots make complete fools of themselves that's why I placed cameras in the room. It's always a good idea to have dirt on somebody especially when it comes to those who just so happen to break a major school rule punishable by immediate expulsion. I'll have those fools eating out of the palms of my hand, but I don't think something as drastic as that has to happen since I'm still in all of their good graces but if the need ever arises I'll use it."

"So you deceived those who you called friends under the pretext of doing them a favor just to blackmail them, you really are nothing but a hag."

"Oh let's be honest those idiots were never my friends, they were a means to an end nothing more nothing less they ceased being of any use to me when they fulfilled their purpose. I would hardly lose any sleep for the likes of them. You have your little minions to don't you, so you understand how expendable they are, they're just pawns for people like us to use to in order to achieve our goals" Kumokawa said in a serious tone of voice.

"That's where you're wrong, the members of my clique aren't just some expendable pawns their own person with their own wants and desires and its through those things that make them unique and worthy of me calling them my friends."

"Ha that's a riot, I think I got you pegged wrong Mental out, you're not just a child you're an ideological fool and it's because of that that you'll never be able to do what it takes to keep Kamijou."

A moment of silence passed before any of them said another word it wasn't until Misaki spoke up that the silence ended.

"So you decide to clear out your school's home economics room just to get the chance to speak to me I don't whether to be flattered or mildly impressed?" Misaki stated.

"I would just go with flattered I mean it wasn't all that hard, to begin with, to tell the staff to clean out all the ingredients here, to begin with, but enough with the small talk, its like I said I know everything that there is to know about you your little Esper ability and even what happened in that little research facility."

This immediately caught Misaki off guard, and she had to force herself not to show any sign of being surprised.

"I have no idea what you're talking about now" Misaki answered

"Oh don't play coy with now Misaki, I know everything that happened there including Prototype, AKA Dolly".

At hearing this name Misaki immediately snapped. It is At this moment that she grabbed the remote from her bag and pointed it directly at Kumokawa's head.

"You should choose your next words very carefully hag for they might be your last," Misaki said coldly as she looked Kumokawa dead in the eyes.

"What are you getting so worked up about? She was only just a clone."

When Kumokawa finished her sentence Misaki immediately pressed a button on her remote to erase all of Kumokawa's memories, but after a second nothing happened.

"W-What, that doesn't make any sense?" Misaki began to mumble out.

At this remark, Kumokawa pulls back her hair to reveal a Bluetooth device in her ear.

"Like I said I already know everything about you including the most efficient way to neutralize your powers. This is called an electron shield headset it was developed with the help of another one of your level 5 friends, it's supposed to mimic her ability to be able to naturally overcome your mental out ability. However, the project was sadly scrapped as more fruitful endeavors surrounding her began to take its place." Kumokawa said while pointing at the device at her head.

"And in the unlikely circumstance that it is you actually being able to force me to take it off I have already prepared a burn book to be released about you and that entire facility that you took over" Kumokawa replied coldly.

"How do you even know about that facility!?"

"Like I said I make it my business to know everything. That's how I'm able to overcome fools like yourself and why I will be the one who will win in taking Kamijou. I mean why do you think I suggested to him to take home economics, I know that he'll make a great house husband one day." Kumokawa said looking at Misaki with superiority.

Misaki was taken aback by this, Kumokawa knew everything about her, she even knew about Dolly something of which she never spoke about even with Touma. As she began to sink into another deep depression a single thought popped into her head.

_'Not again'_

Misaki remembered the time in which she spent with Dolly and how she was so full of light even though she was held in what some might call a prison cell. She remembered how those researchers used her and eventually even killed her in the name of collecting data and eventually how she lost her light. She couldn't help but see Touma in this way, he saved her from her own pits of despair and showed her the way to redemption, and she could see Kumokawa using his light and twisting it up for her own personal gain.

(Not again, Never again if I cannot beat her with my powers or my research then I have to try something else out something that the neither of us even though was possible. I'll have to beat her into submission with my words)

"Say Kumokawa-san since you know everything about me already aren't you the least bit curious in knowing what I know about you?" Misaki asked with a look of determination painted on her face.

"They say bargaining is the third stage of loss, so I can't say I'm all that surprised to hear this, what did you have in mind?" Kumokawa said in a mocking tone.

"If I can tell you something that even you don't know about yourself will, I win if I cannot then you win and I'll distance myself away from my Prince." Misaki declared.

"Bold. But again I can't say that I'm too surprised since all your other options were just wasted. But what could you possibly know about me that I don't already know about myself?"

"Does this mean we are in agreement?" Misaki asked.

"Of course another chance to show you how big of a fool you are is something that I can't possibly turn down," Kumokawa stated.

"Good, the thing that I know about you is that your still a child."

This surprised Kumokawa not because of what she said but because of everything leading up to that moment she wasn't expecting to hear something like that so in response she started laughing.

"Oh, I knew you were getting desperate but this is just sad," Kumokawa said while laughing in between words.

Misaki, however, did not look downtrodden as she still had that look of determination on her face.

"If I could please continue I can show you why."

"Oh, by all means, go ahead. My Queen." Kumokawa said while trying to hold back her laughter.

"When I look back on things I realized something me and you were basically the same person we were both smart, we both used people and threw them as if they were nothing more than toys."

"Oh, flattery will get you nowhere Shokuhou." Kumokawa started to say.

"Were the same. Not anymore. When Touma first met me I was in one of the lowest points in my life and I couldn't see any way out, it was if the world itself was pure darkness and I was stumbling my way around to try to find a way out but gave up. That is when I met him, he was unlike anyone I have ever met he didn't care who I was he just spoke his mind in order to help me. He had a light to him in which I thought was forever extinguished in this world. When I look back on it now he was truly a fool not knowing anything about manners but, that was always a part of his charm. Then when we finally got to talking he showed me the way back towards the light. He showed me that my clique was just like a mob and that I was hurting those near me by ignoring their problems in order to focus upon myself and because of his candidness I was finally able to see the members of my clique for who they are, not pawns for me to use but my friends. And because of that, I was able to help them and... I truly felt happy. My Prince showed me the way back into the light that I lost after my friend's death."

Misaki then pointed at Kumokawa "You however never moved towards his light you only gawked at it. I know my Prince well enough to know that he tried showing the way to better your self he probably said something along the lines of '_you have to be yourself even if some people don't like you you'll eventually find someone who is going to like you just the way you are and then you'll finally have a real friend_' but in the end you never took his advice you only used it as a basis for the mask that you created for yourself in order to blend into society. While you stood there looking at my Prince's light, I actually moved forward and grew up in the hopes that I too can stand with him in that light. You on the other hand never grew up and still even now are still the same elementary school genius who thought everybody around her was an idiot. That's the reason why I won't lose, I will never allow you to try to take his light away from him." Misaki said while remembering everything that had happened since she first met her Prince.

Kumokawa just stood there in silence because for the second moment in her life she didn't know what to say. Kumokawa then started to walk towards the door and opened it. For a brief moment, Misaki thought that she failed not only herself but her Prince.

"You win" Kumokawa stated

This caught Misaki off guard as her eyes widened, and she looked at Kumokawa.

"Not the war you brat, but this battle, I have no rebuttal to what you have just said and I don't want to lower myself in order to take cheap shots at you. Tell Kamijou that I had other important business to take care of or something" Kumokawa stated.

As Kumokawa walked out of the school building she looked up in the air and remembered something that happened years ago to her.

* * *

**Years Ago**

It was her final year in elementary school, and she was in the corner reading high school level physics books when she was approached by a small spiky black haired child.

"What do you want? Are you here under the guise of trying to be my friend, I am already well aware of teachers intentions of trying to get me to communicate with the rest of you and I will tell you exactly what I told her I don't need any friends" Kumokawa stated annoyed at the situation.

"Wow that's a mouthful, you really are smart."

"Of course I am you, idiot! Why else do you think that she would go to all this trouble for me."Kumokawa spat out.

"Well, I didn't come here because of what your teacher said because we're not in the same grade you know?" The young Kamijou said will move his finger to him and her.

This oversight made Kumokawa blush since she was rarely ever wrong about things.

"S-Shut up! If you're not here because of what my teacher said, then for what possible reason do you have in coming to talk to me?" Kumokawa spat out.

"I came over because it looked like you were sad. And from what you were saying earlier it seems to be because you don't have anyone to talk to."

"Shut up you idiot, you know nothing. Everyone around me is an absolute moron and even my teacher is among them how could I ever find a peer among this flock of fools."

"Well I guess you can try opening up to people, you have to be yourself even if some people don't like you, you'll eventually find someone who is going to like you just the way you are and then you'll finally have a real friend," Kamijou said in a matter of fact tone.

This left Kumokawa speechless. She never opened up to anyone before because she knew that if people saw the real her that they wouldn't want to be her friend and it is because of this reason that she ejected herself from the others and focused on studying. She didn't need anyone else she just needed herself no one else was worthy of being in her presence no one!

"What do you know!"

"I don't know that much actually I'm not really that smart but, what I do know is that _no one should be alone_."

This single sentence made Kumokawa stop. He was right talking with this boy was the longest conversation she had ever had while in elementary school and in talking with him she completely forgot about everything else.

"Say, boy, what's your name?" Kumokawa asked.

"My names Kamijou Touma it's nice to meet you. What's your name?"

"My name... it's Kumokawa Seria."

* * *

**Present day**

After this encounter Kumokawa would use what Kamijou said in order to not be alone anymore. She would have to tweak his plan up a bit though she would show the world what they wanted to see a perfect girl who had many friends and after that no one else bothered her. But inside she always felt a heavyweight inside of herself. It was if she was being weighed down. Kumokawa never understood why until now after what Shokuhou had said to her.

"That damned brat actually got me good" Kumokawa mumbled to herself as she continued her way out of the school grounds.

* * *

Back in the school, Touma had finally arrived with the necessary ingredients in order to make cupcakes, but when he arrived he only saw Misaki.

"Hey, Misaki what happened to Kumokawa-san?" Touma asked.

"She got a call and said she had to go finish some work at her job" Misaki answered.

"Really, it seems like she never gets a break, you know what I mean"

"I wouldn't worry about her she seemed to really enjoy the thought of us enjoying your desserts," Misaki said.

"Why don't I help you with the baking?" Misaki asked.

"Nah you don't have-" Touma began to say but was cut off

"I insist," Misaki said while beginning to put on an apron but was unable to tie the knot in the back.

"Here let me help you with that" Touma said as he went behind Misaki in order to tie the knot for the apron.

This immediately made Misaki turn red, but Touma couldn't see since he was behind her.

"Thank you now let's get started," Misaki said while looking directly into her Prince's eyes.

"Okay"

What preceded was a disaster, Misaki did not have any culinary skills whatsoever and accidentally broke an egg on the floor which made Touma slip and fall unto Misaki causing the both of them to have the same thought.

'Rotten Luck'.

However, after a few hours, they were finally able to make 24 cupcakes all that was left to do was to decorate it. And when they were deciding on what to make the design Touma pulled something else out of the cart it was a star-shaped piping tip.

"Here I saw this and thought that you might like to design your cupcakes with this" Touma said

"You got this for me… wait why did you decide on making cupcakes, to begin with?" Misaki asked.

"That's easy that way you could share it with your friends, I don't know exactly how many people are in your clique, but I thought 2 dozen cupcakes should be more than enough" Touma answered.

"HAHAHA AH" Misaki started to laugh at the lowball number that her prince gave to her.

"What so funny?"

"Nothing it's sweet of you to be thinking of me even at a time like this," Misaki said while lightly blushing.

"But you might want to multiply that number, so it even has a chance to coming close to the number of people in my clique" Misaki mumbled.

"What was that?"

"Nothing."

* * *

As the day came to a close the two cleaned up the mess they made in the home economics room and Touma packed up the cupcakes for Misaki to take home. However, once again Touma underestimated Misaki's athletic abilities as she was unable to hold the large carrying case by herself and needed to put it down after 12 or more steps at a time so Touma decided to carry the cupcakes for her.

"Sorry about making you carry the cupcakes," Misaki said in an apologetic tone.

"Don't worry about besides at least now I know you're taking my advice to heart" Touma replied.

"What do you mean by that?"

"I mean before you wouldn't have been able to make it 2 steps while carrying these things without having to catch your breath"

Misaki then proceeds to glare at Touma for making such a comment but stopped after a little while.

"I mean I have tried to get better since then" Misaki began to say.

"I know"

"Hey, Touma, since I'm your friend, do you mind if I could hang out with you every once in the while?" Misaki asked.

"I don't see why not, besides its fun hanging out with your like a good luck charm"

"Really that's so-" Misaki began to say before being interrupted

"That sucks up all my misfortune," Touma said while slightly chuckling

However, this did not last very long as what preceded was a flurry of weak attacks by Misaki. This didn't seem to bother Touma too much since he was already used to taking hits from people way stronger than Misaki. But he couldn't help but worry that Misaki might hurt herself if she continued.

"Alright, Alright I yield I'm sorry that I said that," Touma said while having a slight grin on his face.

The rest of the walk proceeds without any other incidents.

"Thanks for the help today Misaki, I know we really didn't do much but it's the thought that counts right"

"No problem"

"Say, are you sure you'll be alright with carrying all those cupcakes all the way back by yourself?" Touma questioned since he knew Misaki wasn't athletically gifted.

"It's sweet of you to worry but it's quite alright I already sent a message to one of my friends, so she could help me carry all of these things back to my dorm," Misaki replied with a smile on her face.

"That's good to hear. I'll see you around Misaki" Touma said while waving her off.

"Wait, Touma before you go can I get a picture with you?" Misaki asked while blushing.

"Why do you want a picture?"

"Isn't it obvious, its, so I can remember today since this is something that I don't want to forget" Misaki said while still blushing.

"Okay then"

The two then got ready as they each held a cupcake Touma's cupcake was with white icing and no design while the cupcake Misaki was holding was pink and full of star-like designs. Touma took the picture and then sent it to Misaki's phone.

"Okay now I'll see you around"

"Wait"

"What?"

"Do you mind if we hang out tomorrow?" Misaki asked embarrassed at the fact that it's been the third time she stopped Touma in a row.

"Why do you want to hang out with me so much?"

"That's easy it's because I always have fun when I'm with you and besides you should be honored I can think about at least 2 dozen girls who would kill at the chance to spend the day with me"

"Well I don't exactly have anything important tomorrow, so I guess that we'll just be wandering aimlessly throughout the city are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure." Misaki immediately responded.

"Well okay then, want to meet up at the park?"

"Sounds like a plan" Misaki chirped.

"Well, I guess now…. I'll see you tomorrow?".

"Don't forget about me, you hear me?" Misaki said while looking at Touma.

"Don't worry I don't think I could forget about you even if I tried," Touma said while waving Misaki goodbye.

When Touma was finally out of her line of sight and lost in the crowd Junko appeared.

"I'm here my Queen I got the message," Junko stated while holding her phone in her hand that had a Gekota themed cover to it.

"Glad to see you're finally showing the real you Junko"

"It's all thanks to you my Queen, here let me hold that for you," Junko said while picking up the carrying case as though it weighed like nothing.

"Thank you."

"If you don't mind me asking my Queen how did your meeting go?" Junko asked.

"There were a few hiccups here and there, but in the end, I feel as though I won, but that is no reason for me to sit back and rest on my laurels I have to continue to push on ahead no matter what, so I can finally achieve my goal" Misaki stated.

"And what's that, my Queen?"

"To finally be able to protect that light" Misaki answered.

The two walked back and Misaki pulled out one of the cupcakes from the box and handed it to Junko it was a Gekota themed cupcake with stars in its eyes.

"Here you go"

At this point, Junko's eyes started to tear up again.

"You shouldn't have my Queen" Junko started to say.

"Oh enough with the crying already, I thought we went over this already?"

The two then made their way back to the dorms and Misaki told Junko to give out the cupcakes to the first girls that were a part of her clique except for one which Misaki had in her hands. She then made her way back to her room and laid on her bed to examine the cupcake it was the only cupcake that her Prince decorated himself without asking for Misaki's input while the rest of the cupcakes were beautifully decorated this was the only one that had no sprinkles no design whatsoever it was just a plain white frosted cupcake and from the outset looked incredibly ordinary in comparison from all the others. This perfectly represented who her prince was as a person. That is why she was not surprised when she took a bite of it and thought it tasted better than all the others.

"Don't worry my Prince one day I'll be able to stand by your side in the light, so don't forget about me"


	4. Chapter 4 Study 'Date'

**Sorry about the delay but I was working on this and the next two chapters since there will be only two chapters left of the the Misaki Golden days arc. I have read the reviews and thank you all for your feedback it means alot. I hope you enjoy.**

**Study 'Date'**

**August 30**

After the whole debacle with Kumokawa, Misaki decided that it would be best if she kept a closer eye on her Prince. This wasn't because she didn't trust him however it was because she did not trust that old hag not to corrupt him, and she was right the old hag would always appear out of seemingly nowhere whenever Misaki had left eventually Misaki even began to think that her esper ability was teleportation because of the sheer amount of times in which she would appear. After a few days of keeping an eye on her prince however she came upon him at a certain library, she noticed that he was attempting to study a book that had to do with Personal Realities but the volume that he was reading was the first volume while she was on the 12th. She knew that the school that he went to was behind Tokiwadai's curriculum, but she couldn't believe how far it actually was. So she decided to investigate.

"Hey Touma what are you doing here?" Misaki asked while trying to act casual.

"Hey Misaki what are you doing here?"

"Oh I just came here to….borrow a book yeah," Misaki said lying through her teeth.

"Doesn't Tokiwadai have its own library that's better stocked than this one?"

"Well it does but, it didn't have the book that I was looking for."

"What book is that."

"It's the…," Misaki said while scanning the room for a book that seemed uncommon.

"That one yeah" Misaki was pointing to the Book how to win friends and influence people at the top of the shelf but due to the angle from which Touma was sitting as he interpreted it as another book.

"Really. I guess they wouldn't have a book like that at Tokiwadai" Touma said while reaching for the book. He handed the book over to her and to her surprise he gave her the book. 'Gekota meets Pyonko first edition'. Misaki's initial reaction was one of pure shock her jaw practically hit the floor as she was handed this book. At first, she wanted to deny any insinuation that she was interested in anything so childish however after much deliberation inside of her head she decided that this would be the best cover however humiliating it might be.

"So like I was saying what are you doing here?" Misaki said while trying to keep her composure.

"Oh I was just studying for the High school entrance exams I'm basically good in every other subject except when it comes to Personal realities I can never really grasp the concept."

"Well that's probably more your teacher's fault then your own, you could probably better understand the concept if your teacher decided to dedicate more to teaching you all individually rather than the usual lectures as the sole means to relay the information"

"Is that what they do in Tokiwadai?"

"Not really they expect us to research the subjects we are learning on our own time and instead use the class to review what everyone had learned and to discuss any questions we still might have."

"So are you also reviewing Personal Realities in Tokiwadai" Touma said while pointing to the book that he was reading

Not wanting to make Touma feel bad Misaki lied and said that she was on the 6th volume of the Personal Realities' volume which immediately set Touma into a deep depression.

"Well there goes all my self-confidence, not that there was much left to begin with"

"Hey don't feel too bad remember I am the Great Shokuhou Misaki the Queen of Tokiwadai level 5, of course, we would be on different learning levels," Misaki said while trying to cheer Touma up but not realizing that she was sounding very condescending in the process.

"Yeah I feel so much better" Touma replied sarcastically.

"In any case why don't I tutor you" Misaki suggested.

"Actually I originally planned on asking Kumokawa-senpai for her help, but she shot me down saying she was busy with work so that's why I'm here, are you sure you want to tutor me?"

Misaki was shocked at hearing this the old hag had turned her Prince down. She had to be planning something that old hag never makes a move without thinking steps ahead. Maybe that old hag knew that Misaki was going to offer to tutor Touma and was planning to make a surprise appearance and show Misaki up.

"Yes but on one condition"

"Yeah I kinda saw that one coming, so what's the condition?" Touma asked.

"You have to come study at my dorm"

"EHHHHHH are you joking"

"Not one bit, my dorm has all the necessary equipment that we would need to properly teach you about personal realities."

"Yeah but it's an all-girls dorm as in no boys allowed." Touma protested.

"Oh stop being overdramatic, we both know that I'm more than capable of using my powers of getting us in and out of the dormitories without anyone being any the wiser and besides I trust you not to do anything… That would bring shame upon your family."

"Of course I wouldn't!"

"See we have nothing to worry about so let's get going"

"Fine just let me check this book out"

"No need I still have that edition from elementary school"

That comment left Touma feeling even more like an idiot.

As the two were about to leave the library Touma turned to Misaki and remind her why she was here in the first place.

"Hey didn't you say that you were here to get that book"

"Oh…. yeah, but I forgot my wallet just my luck," Misaki said trying to act coy and hoping that Touma would let the entire thing go.

"Oh that's too bad, Oh I know," Touma said while grabbing the book from Misaki's hands and heading to the front and talking with the librarian.

When Touma returned he was holding the book in his hands and had the face of someone that had just wasted their life saving on beanie babies only to realize that they were worthless.

"What was that" Misaki asked

"I just wanted to buy the book for you as a thank you for helping me study only to realize that… Nevermind" Touma said while handing the book to Misaki.

"You got this for me," Misaki said while examining the book. She was extremely happy that Touma got her a gift but had mixed emotions about the nature of the gift she had received.

"Yeah, you said that you wanted it and when I asked the lady upfront she said that was the only copy they had and that she couldn't guarantee that it would be here if you came back."

(They played him, they probably charged him double what this was actually worth, and he went along with it because he's over-trusting) Misaki thought to herself.

"Well thank you it means a lot let's get going," Misaki said while grabbing Touma by the arm and leading him out of the building. But before she exited the building she reached into her remote and pointed it at the librarian and fired. As they were walking out Misaki noticed someone who was walking inside the very library that they just exited. It was a female, but she was wearing a brown trench coat with a fedora to match but it couldn't hide the purple curls of her hair.

"Junko?" Misaki asked the stranger.

A moment passed before either of them spoke.

"My Queen, what are you doing here?" Junko asked while internally panicking on the inside.

"I was here on business, more importantly, what are you doing here"

"Well, I heard a rumor that this library had a certain book for sale and I just wanted to confirm whether it was true" Junko admitted.

"So why are you dressed like some 1960s detective" Touma asked.

Junko was surprised at this as she did not notice the boy until he spoke and what's more, he had her Queen holding onto his arm.

"Um, who might you be?"

"I'm Kamijou Touma and if you don't mind who are you?"

"I'm Hokaze Junko pleasure to meet you," Junko said while extending her arm out to shake his hand.

"Likewise" Touma replied while shaking her hand.

(What the heck just happened) Misaki thought to herself.

"Well I'm glad you two can be acquainted but that still doesn't answer my question," Misaki said sternly while glaring at Junko who was still shaking her Prince's hand. After sensing her glare Junko immediately let go of Touma's hand and hoped backward a bit as she could feel the danger.

"Well you see my Queen there are some people who are also after this particular book, people who I rather not run into"

"Who exactly are you talking about," Misaki asked

"Well my Queen the only reason I was able to learn about this book was because of an internet forum about rare books in the area the forum didn't say which library or bookstore had the book in question, so I decided to investigate it first hand. As you know some rare book hunters are also on the prowl for this book but there is one in particular that I rather avoid." Junko said.

"Who is this person you speak of?" Misaki demanded.

"My Queen it's the only other person I know that is as big or bigger of a fan of Gekota than me. It's the Railgun, Tokiwadai's Ace."

After hearing this Misaki's face immediately turned into one that seemed to be a mixture of annoyance and anger.

"Who?" Touma asked.

"You haven't heard of the Ace of Tokiwadai" This shocked Junko as she thought everybody knew who she was.

"Of course he hasn't heard anything about that barbaric little runt" Misaki spat out.

"Who's this Railgun you guys are talking about and why should I know who she is?" Touma asked.

"She's the third-ranked level 5 esper in academy city" Junko replied in a matter of fact tone.

"Wait if she's third-ranked doesn't that mean that she's above you Misaki?" Touma asked Misaki.

"Of course not that brute is nothing but a ball of trouble and while she may be higher ranked than me, it's just because her ability makes her a walking cannon. Besides I'm obviously above her in a social hierarchy of ways I have an entire clique while she's just a lone wolf type who only hangs out with some weird elementary kid" Misaki said flustered at the implication that Touma had just made.

"So you guys aren't friends?"

"Of course we aren't! Why would we be we're like fire and water, were polar opposites"

"Why not what could this kid possibly have done to you that would make you hate them like this. It's not like you"

These words resonated deeply within Misaki since she realized that she looked like the bad guy in the eyes of her Prince. She would have to tell him the truth in order for him to understand where she was coming from.

"Fine if you must know I didn't start off hating that brat, in fact, I felt indifferent when she started to enroll in Tokiwadai with me even though before her I was the only level 5 there. But one day I got curious and wanted to take a peek inside that mind of hers to see what kind of person she really was. So I decided to use my Mental out on her and to my surprise, it backfired apparently she has an electromagnetic shield around her at all times and so since my ability uses bioelectricity to start off a connection it didn't work. And in response to this, she immediately shocked me unconscious. It was the first time that I had ever been so humiliated in my life. So there that why I don't like that savage, if she would ask before attacking I would have told her my motivations for using my gift on her but, instead I got a trip to the nurse's office. Do you feel good ripping these secrets from a pure maiden's heart"!

"From what you're telling me it sounds like you kinda should have seen that coming" Touma replied.

"EHH," both Misaki and Junko said as both of them were in shock from learning that's what he took away from the story.

"And how is it my fault, Touma!?" Misaki said why staring daggers at Touma.

"I didn't say it was your fault I only said that you should have obviously seen it coming. From what you told me this Railgun was just minding her own business when suddenly she gets the impression that she's being mentally attacked. She probably didn't even mean to zap you, she probably just did it off of reflex" Touma explained.

"Well that still doesn't give her the right to zap me and leave me unconscious in the hallways"

"Actually my Queen it was the Railgun who brought you to the nurse's office, to begin with, I didn't know about the ordeal until you arrived at the nurse's office" Junko explained.

"See she probably felt bad for zapping you and was worried that you might have been hurt, have you actually talked to her after that or have you just been avoiding her and watching her from a distance"

"Well even if I were to look over that incident that still doesn't change the fact that we're polar opposites, and we would never work out as friends"

"You don't know that, that's just an illusion you put on yourself because you never actually talked to her you always try to take the easy way out when meeting people by reading their minds to see who they are and because of that you've grown to distrust people who you could not actually read and never actually try to do things the regular way of just talking with her I'm sure that if you guys started to talk with each other that you would find some common ground with each other and you would become fast friends because that's the kind of person you are."

Misaki was immediately caught off guard with what Touma had said he perfectly found the reason as to why she didn't like Misaka, and he told her like it was an obvious fact.

"Well thank you for the compliment Touma and I will take that under consideration," Misaki said while blushing.

"If you don't mind. Can I see if they have the book in question?" Junko asked with her eyes pleading for leniency.

"All right go on."

"Thank you so much, my Queen, I shouldn't be more than a minute"

Junko then rushed inside of the library like a bullet.

"So are we gonna wait for her?" Touma asked

"Yes, it would be easier to access the dorms with more people helping us" Misaki replied.

"So you weren't kidding when you said that people actually called you Queen huh"

"Of course not what do you take me for a liar"

"No not so much of a liar, just as someone who might exaggerate the truth "

"So what I'm upgraded to the girl who cried wolf"

"I guess so Goldie locks" Touma teased

"So it seems as though you don't need my help after all" Misaki rebutted as she turned her back from Touma.

"No, I'm sorry oh benevolent Queen-sama please accept this poor Kamijou's apology" Touma replied teasing Misaki as he bowed his head to her as onlookers began to notice. At the sight of this Misaki immediately started to turn red since she never heard Touma call her Queen and the fact that she was begging to draw a crowd. So she immediately grabbed her remote from her bag and used it to make all the onlookers ignore them and to forget everything that they had just seen.

"Alright you are forgiven"

After this, they heard a scream from inside of the Library and then a downtrodden looking Junko exited the building.

"Junko what happened?"

It took a moment for Junko to respond as she looked at the ground with an expression that looked like she just lost the game-winning throw and let her entire team down.

"Oh... my Queen I'm sorry I'm just a little upset, that's all"

"We can see that, so what happened?" Touma asked

"Well you see when I entered the library I went to the front desk to talk to the head librarian to see if they had the book available but the librarian only mocked me by clucking like a chicken for no apparent reason"

Misaki's face grew pale as she could see Touma's eyes immediately lock onto her.

"So after that, I went to the assistant Librarian and asked them, and they told me that they did have the book but someone had already bought it a few minutes prior to me arriving, So I guess the other lady was just making fun of me for being too late. The early bird gets the worm and the one that's a few minutes late gets their dreams crushed" Junko lamented.

"I'm so sorry to hear that," Touma said trying to cheer up the now depressed Junko.

"Don't be it's not like it's your fault" Junko tried to reassure the boy.

"By the way what book were you talking about any way it would have to be something special to get both you and the Railgun so interested in it," Misaki questioned.

"The book is called 'Gekota meets Pyonko' but what makes it so special is that it's the first edition and it was signed by the creator of Gekota himself," Junko answered.

Touma and Misaki immediately looked at each other and knew that they were the reason why this poor girl was suffering.

"Is this the book you're talking about?" Misaki said while removing the book from her bag to present to Junko for appraisal.

"OH MY GOD!" Junko screamed as she lunged forward towards Misaki

"How did you get that my Queen?" Junko asked.

"Well you see, Misaki here said that she came to this library to come to get that book, but she didn't have any money on her to buy it, so I gave it to her as a gift I guess since we played the pronoun game neither of us knew what book the other was talking about" Touma explained.

"But that doesn't make any sense the Queen never liked Gekota nor was she even aware of the certain subforums talking about the book, to begin with" Junko questioned.

"Well I guess she was aware of them since that's how we both met in the library in the first place," Touma said as both Junko and Touma turned their heads at the now pale face Misaki internally screaming as her whole world just came crumbling down.

"Well you see I wasn't aware of the subforums you were talking about... I just happened to hear it in passing from a friend" Misaki said praying that they both would accept this as the truth.

"Really can you tell me this friend of yours name it would be so much fun to have someone to talk about Gekota with," Junko said while innocently gazing at Misaki.

"Well, you see…. She's called Mitori yeah".

"Mitori I don't recall knowing any lady by the name in our clique my Queen?" Junko questioned.

"Oh that, because she's someone I know from the research lab I'm a part of," Misaki, said

"Okay, but why did you want to buy the book it never seemed like you were that interested in Gekota before?"

"Well I guess you can say that he grew on me"

"That's wonderful my Queen I knew that you were a benevolent goddess before but now I don't even think the Japanese language has the words to describe how amazing you are," Junko said as her eyes beamed at her Queen.

"Well, you know me," Misaki said why turning her head from Junko as the beaming rays of joy were blinding her.

(Note to self erase all of Junko's memories of this day)

* * *

**Tokiwadai Dorms**

As the trio walked towards the Tokiwadai dorm building they all came up with a plan. Junko would enter the building first to alert the rest of the clique of the plan leaving out the part that she was bringing a boy into the room then once the halls were clear Junko would text Misaki to enter the building and then it would be a straight shot into the building and a one way ticket to Misaki's Dorm room and the plan worked out well a bit to well enough so that Touma was on edge ever since he stepped foot inside Misaki's bedroom he knew that any minute from now that something would go wrong. Something always goes wrong.

"Is something the matter Touma?" Misaki asked

"Nothing it's just…. Your room looks nice".

"Thank you I decorated it myself or I should I say I got the interior designers to do it for me."

"Geez I knew you guys were rich but this dorm puts my apartment to shame those sheets over probably cost more than my entire allowance."

"Don't be so over dramatic the sheets only cost 30,000 yen"

Touma was taken aback by this as he felt as though an arrow had shot him directly towards pride. Her sheets alone almost covered the cost of his allowance.

"Touma?"

"It's nothing let's get started"

The two studied for hours with Misaki going over the basics of AIM field principles with Touma and explaining to him step by step how personal realities were unique to every individual. And after finishing the essential materials for Volumes one through two Misaki was confident that Touma would pass his High School entrance exam.

"And that's where we'll call it a day Misaki-sensei"

"See I told you all you needed was a better work environment and you would thrive"

"You know you're right I learned a lot today and I gotta say I was kinda worried that something bad was going to happen like someone busting through the closet with a camera or something"

"You worry too much Touma I told you that I had everything covered"

"Yeah, I guess my luck is turning around after," Touma said but was cut off by an abrupt knocking at the door. Knocking was putting it lightly it was more like someone was trying to bust the entire door down.

"Who's that?" Touma asks while his face turned pale

"Don't worry it's probably just Junko trying to see what's taking us so…"Misaki said until she was interrupted by the phone vibrating. It was a text from Junko it read.

'I'm not the one at the Door.'

This immediately sent Misaki heart into overdrive trying to figure out who it could be until she received another text from Junko.

'It's the Dorm Manager!'

This four-word text immediately made Misaki hysterical shaking her whole body which was not helped by the fact that the person at the other end of the door began to speak.

"Miss Shokuhou would you please kindly open the door I would like to speak to you about an anonymous phone call I received saying that you invited a boy into your room" The Dorm manager's voice sounded calm at the surface but you would feel the malevolent aura emanating from each word she spoke.

This sent Misaki into a deep fit of hysteria as she could not believe what was happening before her very eyes her entire world started to crumble right beneath her that was until she received another text message this time from an Unknown number it had only one word but Misaki knew exactly who sent this. It read.

**'Enjoy**'

(That old hag this was probably her plan all along she knew that I would take Touma to my dorm, and she planned to call the dorm manager on us. She probably thinks that if I get in trouble for bringing Touma to my dorm that Touma would avoid me as to not hurt me anymore or worse that he would be expelled and be forced to leave academy city. That no good rotten old hag I won't let her get away with this! Think Misaki think! There has to be some way out of this mess there has to be) Misaki thought to herself while thoroughly examining her room to see any possible means of escape, and then she finally saw her answer the window.

"You have to jump" Misaki declared to Touma while trying to keep her voice down.

"Wha-What do you mean I have to jump were on the second floor."

"I know but directly below my window is the gardening club's Flower bush, so it should cushion your fall"

"Knowing my luck it would probably be their rose bush" Touma lamented.

"Better than whatever she has planned for us if we get caught. So get going I know you can do this" Misaki said while nodding at which Touma replied with a thumbs up as he prepared to make the ultimate assassins creed dive into the bushes below.

Just as Touma jumped out of the window the dorm manager let herself in with the master key to all the dorm rooms.

"Why hello there miss Shokuhou why ever did you not open the door for." The dorm manager said while releasing enough dark aura to make even the hardest of individual crack under its sheer pressure.

Then she looked at Shokuhou and saw that she had headphones on and was reading a book.

Misaki then turned and saw the dorm manager in awe as she was 'surprised' that she was here.

"Why hello there miss Dorm Manager whatever are you doing here for," Misaki said while smiling trying to play innocent.

"Well it seems that you didn't hear me earlier, so I will repeat myself once again I came here because of an anonymous call that I received saying that you had brought a boy into your room"

"Well as you can see there are no boys here in my dorm and besides why would I do something as reprehensible as bring a boy over to my dorm not only is that against school rules but it is also not ladylike and unbefitting of Tokiwadai wouldn't you agree" Misaki said why continuing on with her ruse.

"I couldn't agree more anyone who would bring a boy into their dorm room would be harshly punished for that offense and could even face expulsion as a result." Said the Dorm Manager in a strict tone while scanning the room for any discrepancies in her story.

"Well I appreciate you doing your due diligence my dear Dorm Manager but I must do my own due Diligence as a student of Tokiwadai and study so if you don't mind I will get back to it," Said Misaki while opening the book to cover her face.

"Alright then. Just one more thing miss Shokuhou".

"Yes"

"Why is it that you are reading the first volume of that book when you are currently studying the 12th volume at school.

It was lucky that Misaki had the book cover her face at the time for she was sweating bullets after that last comment.

* * *

After Touma had landed on the rosebush and not only miraculously survive but also came out of it unscathed as the gardening club has always made sure to cut all the thorns from the rose bushes. Just as Touma was about to make his great escape he saw the end of his journey it was a group of what seemed to be a scientist accompanied by a young girl with short brown hair. At first Touma believed all was lost until he was his chance it was a large cart it had a design on it that said Railgun radar the cart seemed big enough to hold a person inside so without a second thought Touma jumped inside of the unknown cart and prayed to every god that he knew that they would not check the cart. And his prayers were answered they did not check the cart, however, Touma did hear the wheels of the cart begin to make a sound, and he felt something move. They were pushing the cart.

After a few minutes of internally panicking Touma did the reasonable thing and turned off his phone because if it were to go off in a situation like this it would all be over. Touma went over all the times Aogami said that he experienced a similar experience instead, in his case he ended up getting caught and nearly stoned to death with soap bars in the girl's locker room. When the cart finally stopped moving 10 minutes had already passed by he had no idea where they could even be by now. Then Touma's heart began to sink as he began to feel the cart tilt and eventually flip over completely. After Touma was dumped out of the cart Touma began to attempt to get a better grasp of his surroundings when he heard a hatch above him seemingly close upon further inspection of the area it seemed to be a type of bomb shelter of some kind with surrounded with what seemed to be sensors. Originally Touma thought that he was in a laundry cart of some sorts but now that he thought about it he didn't actually feel any clothing inside the cart that is when he realized that he was covered in what seemed to be like black dots which immediately started to glow light red as they all left his body and scattered all around the room from the roof to the very corners of the room that is when he realized that the entire bomb shelter was covered in these strange black dots that's when he heard talking from the outside of the bomb shelter.

"So do you understand what you have to do Miss Railgun?"

"Yeah I have to shoot my Railgun at full power at that abandoned bomb shelter but I don't see how that is going to help me at all?" The young girl replied.

"That's why we brought over 20,000 miniature Radar dots to read and calculate the exact strength and speed of your railgun with this we can finally precisely read your railguns exact destructive output and determine its exact speed to the very last kilometer, besides if we didn't use this we would have to use your school's pool to conduct these experiments."

"Okay, I guess. Nothing bad is gonna happen right, the whole bomb shelter isn't going to become a giant bomb right"

"Don't worry we made sure that the bomb shelter was completely secure from both the inside and out nothing can come in or go out without realizing a force equivalent to 2.7 million Newtons of force just remember to aim for the door"

But before Touma could even let out a shout they were already too far away for them to hear him.

"HEY! LET ME OUT OF HERE" Touma shouted as he kicked the door to the bomb shelter in vain.

"STOP! SOMEONE'S STILL HERE!

Touma then tried to check everywhere around the bomb shelter to find some means of escape if he really was going to get with something not only strong enough to break the door down with but also strong enough to take out the entire shelter he did not want to stick around to see it. Eventually, Touma's effort proved to be useless as he could not find a single opening save for the few makeshift air holes the scientist made to account for a change in wind pressure that is when Touma had one last idea in order to make it out of this situation alive.

He would have to counter the railgun since if he negated it the force of the door flying into him would still end his life on impact. It seemed impossible for anybody to do, not only could Touma not see from the outside of the door but also if it really was a railgun then it would have to be moving faster than the speed of sound. That is why he pulled out his phone and turned it back on to see that he had one message from Misaki.

'Hey, I'm sorry about what happened today. Can I come over to see your apartment today it's only fair since you got to see my dorm besides I just realized how much you actually spent on this Gekota book for someone who criticizes me on the amount of money I spend on my sheets spending that much for a book seems like a waste to me. So what do you say.'

Touma looked at this and out of all the things he could have messaged her about, to send help he decided to send her 3 words.

'It's a promise'.

Touma placed both of his hands in front of himself and prepared himself for the inevitable impact he had to be completely focused not only did he have to predict something moving faster than the speed of sound he also had to do it while basically blind. Touma awaited the inevitable boom as his entire life flashed before his eyes from the time when he got stabbed and was sent of to academy city to the time he met his friends from the delta force and the time he met Misaki. He had to keep his promise at all costs.

***BOOOOM!***

As Touma heard this his left hand began to move instinctively it was almost as if it already knew where it was going to hit before it actually made an impact it was just like a sixth sense.

Right when he finished placing his hand over the spot where he thought the railgun was going to hit he made sure not to actually touch the door but to hover above it just then all he saw was bright orange and white light coming through the door. He didn't actually see it hit his hand, but he heard a familiar reverbing sound and another sudden loud.

***BOOOOOOOM!***

When Touma finally opened his eyes he could see the main door to the bomb shelter inches away from his face only to be flung back in the opposite direction at the last second before impact. Touma could feel the heat emanating from the door as it was flung away. And he saw the main door along with his countered railgun fly in the opposite direction n a beam of orange and white light.

At first a huge wave of relief hit Touma as he was glad to be alive followed by a tsunami of panic as he'd just realized that he'd countered a railgun capable of destroying the entire bomb shelter and shot it right back at the unsuspecting person, it wasn't their fault for firing they didn't know he was in there, to begin with.

Touma ran out of the building and followed the scorched earth path that the railgun he had just countered. When he was he finished he found a young girl with short brown hair lying sprawled on her back along with another woman with a lab coat on lying beside her? Aside from the obvious shock that the two had just received, they seemed to be perfectly fine upon closer inspection however he realized that he was at the park only a few minutes away from the Tokiwadai main school building.

After seeing the young girl start to regain her senses Touma decided that it would be best if he just left. After all, everyone was okay in the end, so he decided to run towards the exit of this hellscape that he'd just experience.

"Hey miss," said the young girl with short brown hair

"Yes miss Railgun," said the researcher weakly

"I think we should stick with the pool from now on"

"I agree" after this event the researcher never again suggested practicing using the Railguns power except inside of the pool area even if there would be less data there would be more chance of survival that way.

* * *

**Touma's Dorm**

After Touma finally got out of Tokiwadai's school grounds he didn't find it any easier getting his way back home he had broken his train card when he was dumped out into the bomb shelter. It took Touma over two hours to make it to his apartment. When Touma made it back to his apartment building he was greeted by Misaki who was waiting for him at the front entrance.

"It took you long enough I was starting to get the feeling that you had forgotten about me," Misaki said while puffing her cheeks out.

Touma took one look at this and smiled. He then raised his hand and patted Misaki on the head gently.

"WHA WHA WHAT was that for" Misaki spat out as she was completely crimson.

"How could I ever forget someone like you, besides I made a promise didn't I and I'll always keep my word no matter what," Touma said while still patting Misaki on the head.

"In any case, you can stop now I'm not some pet that needs your constant approval you know!" Misaki shouted frantically grabbing Touma's hand to stop him.

After that, the two went up to the 7th floor to Touma's apartment.

"Welcome to this Kamijou's place of residence milady," Touma said teasingly while opening the door a motioning Misaki inside.

When Touma looked over at Misaki he saw her sizing up his apartment looking everywhere as if trying to find something incriminating on him or something.

"UMM Misaki are you okay?"

"Huh, I'm fine. This place is neater than I expected it to be though if I'm going, to be honest given your relationship with luck I would have assumed that this apartment would be like a battlefield full of burn marks and shards of glass everywhere from all the mirrors you accidentally broke only throwing more fuel to the ever-growing fire known as your bad luck."

"Well it's not or at least it isn't any more I try to keep the 'battlefield clean for the most part whenever I accidentally break something I'd just clean it right up I'm not a mongrel you know"

"I know that," Misaki said while blushing"

"So why else did you come here?" Asked Touma

"Think of it as a thank you"

"Huh?"

* * *

**Two Hours ago.**

After Misaki had finally managed to escape the suspicions of the dorm manager she was faced with an even bigger threat it was the fact that her Prince was outside in territory completely unknown to him, and he could still very well be caught. Misaki rushed towards her window and first looked at where her prince had jumped unto for landing. It didn't seem like he died on impact, so he should be fine. She then proceeded to scan the nearby area and could not see anybody resembling the spiky black haired boy, but she only saw her again.

The other level 5 Misaka Mikoto AKA Railgun she had purposely not use her real name in front of Touma out of sheer spite of her she had other reasons as to why she hated Misaka some of which she still couldn't admit even to Touma. Misaka seemed like she was being escorted by a researcher from the school for some reason. Misaki then pulled out her remote and began a connection to the mind of the researcher accompanying Misaka apparently they had made a bomb shelter in the natural park of the Tokiwadai estate and we're going to attempt to further calculate the full extent on the Railguns full power. This really didn't interest Misaki enough, so she broke the connection as soon as she learned what she needed to. Just as Misaki was about to head for the door Junko ran in front of her.

"My Queen you're alive I feared the worst when she decided to come to your room," Junko said while shaking.

"Yes Junko I'm very much alive and very much still upset at that old hag for managing to get the drop on me"

"Old hag?"

"Something you need not concern yourself with Junko it's just something I've been dealing with"

"Does this have something to do with your boyfriend my Queen?" Junko asked

"WHA-What are you talking about Junko!? I'm not dating that boy he's just a friend." Misaki protested why still turning red.

"Really?"

"Yes whatever would make you think something like that" Misaki said while trying to regain her composure.

"Well to be honest it's quite uncommon for a friend to waste such an exorbitant amount of money for a gift for someone."

"Gift, are you still talking about this?" Misaki said while taking the book out of her bag again only to have Junko snatch in out of her hand the second she did.

"You should really be more careful with this my Queen it can be damaged quite easily you know," Junko said calmly but the undertone was one of panic at seeing the way she treated the book.

"Yeah, I guess I should be," Misaki said while rolling her eyes.

"What were you talking about when you mentioned an exorbitant amount of money?" Misaki questioned.

"Well it's not exactly expensive to you or me but for the average person this is quite a lot of money to waste on a gift for a mere friend even if they sold this book at its base value by itself it would still cost 11,000 yen and could even go for 100,000 yen if it went for auction" Junko explained.

"That much!" Misaki spat out as she didn't think that was anywhere near expensive for her but to Touma that was the equivalent of losing an arm and leg. Why would he spend so much just because she told him he wanted it normally if someone was asked to waste so much money just to satiate someone's habit they would say no or just ignore them altogether but not her Prince. Misaki was then racked with guilt over the fact that because of her little white lie it cost him so much but before she could dwell on that feeling for too long Junko snapped her out of it.

"So my Queen you don't have any feelings for that boy whatsoever?"

"Why do you keep asking that didn't I already say-" Misaki started to say.

"I just wanted to make sure that you were following your own advice my Queen"

"What are you talking about?"

"I want you to be happy being you not someone who you think I want you to be" Junko quoted a certain honey blonde Queen.

" I Already know that you weren't really a fan of Gekota since you first showed me that book I only stopped myself from asking about it because I noticed that you weren't lying for my sake but you were lying for the other boy's sake."

"I want you to be happy my Queen and if that boy is able to do that for you then I say you should go for it I know in my heart everyone in the clique would stand behind you myself included in your decision no matter what you decide. So please be happy"

These words brought awareness to Misaki's heart not only was Junko able to tell what she was truly feeling, but she also knew what was keeping her back she then looked over at the book in Junko's hands.

"You can't keep the book Junko"

"WHAT! That's not what this was about my Queen I swear" Junko protested.

"It would be unladylike for me to give away a gift given to me by my Prince that is why I'll ask him myself"

Just then Misaki took out her phone and sent a text to her prince. As she and Junko were leaving the dorms they suddenly hear a loud.

***BOOOOM!***

"What was that!" Junko screamed as she jumped in front of Misaki to protect her from any danger.

"I believe that was a railgun they mentioned that they were going" Misaki explained only to be interrupted by another.

***BOOOOOOOM!***

Just then the two saw another beam of orange and yellow energy fly out into the air only to see something fall away from it. What was it?

Just as that question arose from Misaki's mind the debris fell out of the air and crash-landed only 30 meters away from them into a patch of grass which spewed muck and dirt all over Misaki and Junko's clothes leaving them as if they were statues made of mud.

"This is all her fault"

"Who's my Queen?"

"That Damned Railgun!" Misaki screamed as she cursed The Railgun of Tokiwadai inside of her mind since she was a fair maiden after all.

* * *

**Current Time.**

"Like I was saying I wanted to thank you for buying me this book"

" You don't have to thank me I did it because I wanted to"

"Yes but the price"

"If your worried about the don't be, when the librarian told me how much the book cost I almost fainted due to shock in seeing how much that useless piece of parchment was worth, but once she saw you and realized that I wasn't buying the thing for myself she cut me a deal and made it something that I could actually afford" Touma explained knowing that he was partially lying while it was true that the librarian cut him a deal it was still a lot of money, and he had to use the savings that he was storing in order to buy a Gal game that he wanted.

"Even still I would be remiss if I didn't thank you properly," Misaki said while blushing.

"And how are you going to do that? Touma questioned as he tilted his head in confusion.

Misaki then started to lean closer to Touma's face her heart was pounding so hard that she thought Touma would be able to hear it and as she made her way closer she closed her eyes to do what she was doing to do and right before she was able to land what she was planning she heard a loud banging at the door.

This startled the both of them since they both still had the memory of the Dorm Manager almost catching them when they were at her dorm could it possibly be that she tracked Misaki down here like a bloodhound to catch her in her lies. Just as fear started to set in, Touma walked to the door but was stopped when Misaki grabbed his arm.

"What do you think you're doing!?" Misaki chastised

"I'm going to open the door"

"I can see that, why are you going to open the door?"

"To see what's on the other side of course," Touma said teasing Misaki.

"This is no time to be joking around Touma look at the situation were in"

"What situation, you just came over here to thank me for giving you that book" Touma calmly explained not seeing the writing in between the walls of the words that he just spoke.

Before Misaki could process Touma's lack of experience in this subject she was already to late his hand was already on the door handle, and he opened the door to something that Misaki never would have expected.

"Kumokawa-senpai what are you doing here," Touma asked

"Oh, Kamijou I just came by to help you with your studies for the High school entrance exam. Oh! if it isn't Shokuhou-san whatever might you be doing here." Kumokawa said in a sweet voice but Misaki could see right through it.

'That lying old hag she knows exactly why I'm here' Misaki thought to herself as she glared at Kumokawa.

"Oh that's so nice of you but I'm alright, Misaki helped me study all day today" Touma replied still blind to the real reason why these things were unfolding around him.

"Oh is that so," Kumokawa said while holding her finger to her mouth.

"Yes, I tutored him all day and I'm confident in saying that he'll be able to pass whatever is thrown at him in the High School entrance exam. So you needn't worry about that, unlike some people others care whether he is able to pass." Misaki said triumphantly.

"Oh in that case" Kumokawa rushed over to Misaki and grasped her hands gently.

"Thank you from the bottom of my heart for helping my kohai miss Shokuhou," Kumokawa said warmly.

"You see I was swamped all day at work and never would have been able to do it myself"

"It was no problem…. Wait did you just say kohai," Misaki said as she was beginning to unravel Kumokawa plan.

"Yes, when this summer ends Kamijou and I will be going to the same Highschool" Kumokawa declared put then leaned in to whisper these words into Misaki's ears.

"Where I can watch over him all day, and he would come to me as his proper senpai. I believe this is what they call, check."

When she finally let Misaki go, Misaki's face was completely pale she had just done all the legwork for Kumokawa's plan.

"Well that's a weight off my shoulders see you at the entrance ceremony Kamijou-kun"

"Huh wasn't that nice she came all the way over here just to help me study, don't you think so Misaki… Misaki?" Touma said as he looks at Misaki's hollow body.

"Rotten Luck"

"Can you stop stealing my catchphrase geez I'm gonna trademark that one of these days"

"Fine Such misfortune"


	5. Chapter 5 All Good Things

**Hey, thank you guys for your support and advice in the reviews the feedback really helps me a lot. Only one more chapter until the end of the Misaki Golden Days Arc. **

**BlueJack22: Kamijou tried to get it copyrighted but somebody lost his paperwork and it never went through and Junpei from Nyan Koi! got it instead. "Such Misfortune". Nah it'll take more than that to traumatize the Railgun this is actually one of the reasons why she got so good at doing pinpoint aiming.**

**Fortitude501: The scores were actually 4-3 I'm just saving those stories for another day like an Omake.**

**Savior555: Here is more.**

**Whwsms: Touma did use his counter but the reason one saw Touma Counter it is because Misaka and the Researcher were a good distance away from the blast radius as to not get hit by any rubble that would have come from the explosion.**

**All good things must come to an end**

**August 31**

It had been weeks after Misaki's first victory over Kumokawa and while she has seen her around and even tried to get in between her and her prince every now and again it was never at the same level it was when they went to her high school if Misaki didn't know any better she would have thought that Kumokawa was starting to lighten up around her and accept the idea of Misaki being with her prince. This illusion was shattered fairly quickly after what happened when her and her Prince went on their last study 'date' While the time the two of them were together was like a dream to her she was able to bring him to her dorms one time to be able to help him study which led to the whole debacle of him trying to escape the dorm grounds without getting caught by the Dorm Manager which eventually lead to Junko finding out about her Prince's existence and helping them get him out of there in one piece.

Eventually though when the matter was resolved, Junko said that she was glad that she finally had the chance to meet her Queen's boyfriend which Misaki denied but Junko was unconvinced a small part of her wanted to use her power on Junko to make her forget but the other part wanted what Junko said to be the truth, so she left it alone. After this though both her and Touma were on the complicated spectrum on the relationship scale as both enjoyed spending time together but neither of them wanted to put a label on what they had. But Misaki knew that she had to get serious with Touma sooner rather than later since once the summer break ends he would be going to high school with that old hag.

So Misaki decided that she was going to confess to Touma today. For once Touma had picked out their 'date' he was going to take her around district 7 and show her what his everyday routine was like. Misaki could not help but be a little curious at what her princes routine was ever since knew him he always attracts bad luck and while from the offset it might have looked harmless, but the stories that he would tell her as an explanation as to why he was always late always surprised her, once when they had a date at a new crepe restaurant she wanted to go to he was 30 minutes late and when he finally arrived he was completely covered in filth. When he explained what happened though made it made her even madder apparently a level 4 hoodlum had tried to harass a young girl and when her Prince so valiantly stepped in to help the poor girl he decided that the best course of action was to try to blast him with what Touma described as a laser of sorts, in reality, it was more like an energy beam type of esper ability not unlike another level 5 Misaki knew of Meltdowner, but this version only seemed to come from his hands.

In the end, her prince negated the Neanderthal's ability and was able to give him a right hook that sent him flying away. But still, if she ever found this person she would personally make them pay for what they did to her Prince.

As Misaki waited for Touma by his dorms she couldn't help but look up at where his dorm was and see the do not cross tape across the room next door to him. She had been invited there once by Touma and when she entered she couldn't help but think that his living arrangements were less than what she expected. By no means was she insulting the way Touma kept the upkeep of his apartment it was the fact that it was so small that really bothered her she thought that her Prince deserved better than what he had gotten and actually controlled his apartment manager to have his room expanded this meant that the person next door to him had to hit the road of course, but when she realized that the dorm to his left was already vacant she decided that it would be better to use that one instead. She was actually planning to reveal this to Touma once the day was finished, she had all the arrangements already set up and wanted to surprise Touma about it and couldn't wait to see his reaction. She knew that he would say something along the lines of 'you shouldn't use your powers like that it's wrong and I'm okay with my living arrangement" but she was going to hear nothing of the sorts the plan for the reconstruction were already on the way the second that he stepped out of his dorm the construction crew would begin their work on his expansion.

That when she finally saw him step out of his dorm he was wearing his usual clothes and it looked like he was fiddling with a paper in his hand. It sort of resembles a map but was in very poor condition as she was able to see how bad it was from all the way down on the ground.

"Hey, sorry to keep you waiting, Misaki"

"It's no problem really. What do you have there?"Misaki asked.

"This it's a secret map that I had to snatch away from the other Delta Force Members" Touma whispered to Misaki while looking side to side to make sure that nobody saw him.

"What do you mean by snatched? You didn't steal this map did you, that's not very noble you know" Misaki reprimanded.

"It's not stealing if you're the one who made the thing. Besides this is just a map that I and the rest of my friends made that highlighted our best spots" Touma replied.

"Best spots… WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!" Misaki shouted.

"It's not like that, and keep your voice down I don't want to get found out, it's just a map that showed our favorite places to hang out see." Touma clarified as he presented the map to Misaki.

The map looked like any other map except for the part where numbers and letters were circled on certain buildings and a few buildings stood out to her in particular it was the Tokiwadai middle school and High School the Middle school had an **A1** drawn next to it while the high school had an **S1** drawn next to it.

"Explain" Misaki Demanded while pointing at the buildings in question.

"That's something I can't really do right now, not that I don't want to it's just that I'm unable to." said while holding his hands up defensively.

"What do you mean?"

"You see the letters and numbers mean to different things the numbers represent the spots me and my friends like to hang out and have a good time. You see whenever we have a hard time deciding what to do we'd just roll a die and whatever number popped up was the place that we'd hang out." Touma explained.

"Okay so that answers that question but what about the Letters?"

"Well here's the thing I don't exactly know what the letters mean the only one who knows what they mean is my friend Tsuchimikado, he's the one with the Book" Touma further explained

"The Book?"

"It's a book full of what the letters mean and represent, but the Book is in code and the one with the cipher for that code is my other friend Aogami"

"So you're telling me that you have absolutely no idea what any of these letters mean," Misaki said while staring into the depths of Touma's soul.

Touma simply looked away and began to open his mouth

"Before you even say anything look me in the eyes" Misaki stated.

Touma complied and looked at Misaki's eyes. She had this puppy dog face that could crumble any resistance that Touma had and it was no different this time.

"Alright I know" Touma declared while falling on his knees in defeat.

(Works like a charm) Misaki thought to herself.

"Well"

"Well, I wasn't lying when I said I had no idea what the letters mean since I really don't know but, I do kinda know what they should mean," Touma said

"So what do they mean"

"Well basically …. There future exploits of the Delta Force." Touma mumbled.

"FUTURE EXPLOITS!" Misaki screamed.

"It's not 100 percent of what you think it means I mean if you look at the letter F's you can see that" Touma began to explain but was abruptly cut off.

"Wait a minute are the Letters scoring systems on how difficult these exploits are"

Touma turned pale for a second as she caught on sooner than he did when he saw this map originally he thought these were just landmarks that his friends drew in but once they established each of their respective roles with Touma being the keeper of the Map and Aogami the keeper of the cipher and Tsuchimikado the keeper of the Book they began to use code words to say where they were going like A2 or B1 and when Touma would arrive things would always go great at first but it inevitably came back to bite him.

A moment passed as neither of them said a word to the other until Misaki finally spoke up.

"I want you to burn Map"

"WHAT! I can't do that it doesn't just belong to me" Touma plead

"Touma I'm telling you to BURN THE MAP!" Misaki yelled.

"But"

"Does our friendship really mean that little to you that you won't listen to my advice. Please Touma" Misaki said with tears beginning to form in her eyes

At that moment Touma knew that he had to do it. He couldn't bear to see someone he cared so much about to be this upset, so he agreed.

"Okay"

"Good," Misaki said as she pulled a remote from out of her bag and pointed it at one of the construction workers.

Immediately the construction worker came down a pulled out a small blow torch and handed it to Touma and went back upstairs.

"I didn't know my building had any construction going on"

"Forget about it"

Then Touma lit the blow torch and set The Map on fire.

Tsuchimikado and Aogami both popped their heads up from what they were doing even though they were both across the city they both sensed it. A disturbance in the FORCE.

"Okay can you stop crying now please," Touma asked

"I wasn't crying," Misaki said while secretly wiping her tears away

"Why were you upset about the map anyway?"

"Why. It's because I don't want to see you on the 12 o'clock news for getting caught on one of your little exploits!"

In truth Misaki was more upset that Touma was slowly drifting apart from her. The fact that he was trying to defend that list showed her that he didn't see her in a romantic way as she did for him he would rather just go off to one of those letters then be with her. This only cemented the fact in Misaki that she had to confess to Touma, so he would stop trying to be with other girls since she knew that girls were already interested in him.

Misaki then grabbed Touma's arm and began to drag him away from the entrance to his dorm.

At that same time however Tsuchimikado came down to see the horror that had just transpired he didn't see Touma actually burn the map nor did he see him leave with Misaki but what he did see was the Map on the floor slowly being consumed by fire.

"NOOOOO" Tsuchimikado screamed as he tried in vain to put out the fire.

Then Tsuchimikado picked up the ashes of the Map and cried out.

"KAMI!"

He then pulled out his phone and called the other member of the Delta Force.

"Aogami its Tsuchimikado Kami just turned traitor on us you know what we have to do"

"Copy" Aogami stated in a cold voice.

Touma then felt a chill run down his spine

'Rotten Luck'

* * *

The two then stopped at a tea shop that Misaki liked to cheer her up from what just happened. Misaki was drinking Black tea to try to relax while waiting for her sweets to arrive while Touma just ordered water.

"So do you feel any better?" Touma asked

"Yes I do feel better but, that still doesn't get you off the hook for what you did" Misaki replied

"What do you mean. I burned the Map like you wanted me to."

"I am well aware but, what I'm talking about is your relationship with your friends. It's not healthy"

"What? Tsuchimikado may be a siscon and Aogami an everything con but their still my friends."

"Touma I want you to take a good long look at what just transpired, you just showed me a map that your friends made in order to spy on women, can you honestly tell me that they are looking out for your best interests."

"Okay I'll admit they have their quirks but, their still good people and they care about me"

"Caring about someone and using someone is a very fine line Touma you even said so yourself, plus you didn't even know what any of those things on the map meant until they took you there"

"Well."

"Exactly what they were doing was making you their patsy, you were the only one among them that had any hard evidence to link you back up with their exploits"

After a second on reflecting on what Misaki said Touma started to wonder where she was going with this.

"Listen, Touma, I won't act like I understand your relationship with those neanderthals and if you want to continue to your friendship that's also fine, all I'm saying is that you don't go along with every single last one of their idiotic plans"

"I know you're right but, still when push comes to shove I know that'll have my back no matter what. And besides, why shouldn't I go on the missions it's not like I have a girlfriend or anything"

"That's something else I wanted to talk to you about Touma," Misaki said softly

"Why would you want to talk to me about me having a girlfriend… what are you trying to set me up with somebody?"

"In a way yes" Misaki softly replied.

"Really who is it? Wait let me guess." Touma said excitedly

"It's me" Misaki said while turning scarlet.

"Nice one but, no really?"

Misaki simply looked at Touma directly in the eyes and he immediately knew that she wasn't joking. Touma immediately stopped in his tracks not knowing what to do or say in this situation he was never expecting something like this to happen.

"Listen Touma I wanted to tell you this under different circumstances but this was a good of a chance as any, I want you to be happy I really do that's why I'm not suggesting that you cut your ties with your friends, but when I heard you talk about your friends and their exploits like that, part of me …, I couldn't just stand back and pretend that it didn't matter to me because it did."

"This...This is a lot to take in right now"

"I know that's why I don't want an answer immediately I just want you to know that I'm here for you when you do decide my Prince," Misaki said while holding Touma's hand

Touma simply sat there and remembered the summer that the two of them spent together it was fun it had its ups and downs and in the end from an outside perspective it was obvious that she liked Touma but to Touma he didn't realize that he'd been raising any flags with Misaki…..he was calling her by her first name…..Idiot.

"All that I ask is a chance to win you over," Misaki said.

"Are you sure I mean you've seen me right, my luck it can get really rough I mean how many times did I go to the hospital since I met you"

"You went 5 times, don't you remember I was there for most of them and I know the reason you went there in the first place. You were helping people who needed help like a Prince."

"You know that there are better guys out there"

"That's where your wrong to me you are my perfect Prince flaws and all" Misaki said while gazing into Touma's eyes.

"I mean ….. I don't know I can't lie and say I never thought about it but." Touma trailed off.

"So why not take it for a test run then" Misaki suggested.

"What do you mean?"

"For today I am your girlfriend and you are my boyfriend if by the end of this day I cannot convince you to become mine then I shall accept that and won't pressure you again until you ask me" Misaki declared.

Touma looked hesitant at first, he had no reason not to accept her offer but some part of him knew that he had to at least try and besides it was probably just a crush, not anything serious.

"Okay. So what do we do now?" Touma asked reluctantly.

"Well first let's finish our brunch then we can go walk around for a bit and…..Who the hell are they!" Misaki noticed a group of two boys one with blonde hair wearing a Hawaiian shirt with a gold chain accompanied by a boy with blue hair whose eyes seemed to be like they were closed wearing a waiters uniform rushing over to their table.

* * *

**Minutes Earlier**

"This is BLAU do you read me Siscon sergeant over" Aogami stated in a professional tone while speaking into his walkie.

"This is Siscon sergeant, I read you loud and clear have you located the Kami, Over"

"Positive he's at the Tea shop known as the Imperial, Over"

"Copy I'm getting into position as we speak, Over"

As Tsuchimikado walked through the halls of an abandoned building 3 blocks away from the tea shop he was holding a large metal briefcase. This wasn't the first time Tsuchimikado did something like this as he had experience in this type of field so he wasn't nervous but he also wasn't completely calm. While walking he could not get over the feeling that what they weren't completely justified. They didn't know for 100% fact that Kamijou turned traitor, but the rule was that if there was even a 1% chance of you becoming a traitor that meant all remaining Delta Force members had to stop the threat no matter who they could be.

As Tsuchimikado neared an open window on the fourth floor he was searching for the perfect vantage point in order to find the spot where his shot could be the most effective. He eventually settled at a spot in the farthest corner of the building where it had an open window that was already completely shattered as to not block his line of sight. This spot offered him the best line of sight to where Kamijou was he could even see him from here but he knew that Kamijou would not be able to see him from where he was sitting.

Tsuchimikado then put down his briefcase and started to assemble the weapon that would seal Kamijou's fate once and for all. Once he finished assembling the final piece he looked through the lens of one last time in order to make sure if Kamijou was truly a traitor and what he saw confirmed this. He saw Kamijou sitting down at a table with a honey blonde girl across from him and she was blushing. This was all Tsuchimikado needed to be able to fire.

"Kami you son a Bitch" Tsuchimikado yelled. As he pressed on the trigger.

After Tsuchimikado pressed the trigger for his camera he immediately saved the pictures to his cloud network and sent some out to a few trusted individuals he knew in case things went bad he then pulled out his portable printer and began to get to work on photoshopping the image he had just taken. He was finally ready to go and confront the traitor.

As Tsuchimikado exited the building he was greeted by Aogami who was in disguise as a waiter.

"Did you get it?" Aogami asked as he began to take off the wig he was wearing along with the fake glasses he had on.

"I got it" Tsuchimikado answered as he handed a copy of the photo over to Aogami who looked at it with a hint of anger over his face.

"I always knew that the Kami-yan disease was powerful but, never this powerful"

"Let's get going we have a traitor to deal with," Tsuchimikado said as the pair began to run towards the tea shop where Kamijou was.

* * *

**Current time**

"What the hell are you guys doing here!" Touma demand

"You know these people Touma?" Misaki questioned.

"Yeah, there the other members of the Delta Force the one with yellow hair is Tsuchimikado and the one with blue hair is Aogami" Touma explained.

"Why am I not surprised" Misaki lamented.

"So what are you guys doing here and don't just say you happened to be in the neighborhood," Touma asked again with a little more force.

"We just wanted to see it with our own eyes, how a member of the Delta Force could stray so far off the path" Aogami began to say.

"What are you talking about?" Touma questioned.

"We know about the Map Kami," Tsuchimikado said

"Is that what this is about, some stupid immature map that you peeping toms made and conned my Prince into holding onto" Misaki hissed back.

"So you even divulged the personal secrets of the Delta Force to a member of your harem" Aogami with a hint of anger in his voice while looking over at Kamijou.

"I'm not a member of his harem you insufferable imbecile I'm his girlfriend" Misaki clarified

The pair of delta force members then looked at Kamijou expecting him to deny it but was shocked to see that he didn't.

"No you can't be serious after everything we've been through you'd betray your closest comrades for her, I never took you for a lolicon Kami but, I can hardly say I'm surprised since I also never expected you to be a traitor" Aogami cried while pointing at Misaki.

This greatly annoyed Misaki to no end as he was calling her a child and pointing at her chest. Everybody present at the restaurant could feel the dark aura emanating from the young girl. This all came to a fever pitch when Aogami began to approach Touma in order to choke him out.

"If you even think about taking another step towards my Prince I'll use my powers to make you gain a dominatrix fetish" Misaki threatened

"HA, your powers have no effect on me foolish little Loli. You can't change what I already have" Aogami boasted

"WHAT!" Misaki said shocked as she didn't know what kind of sicko would be into that.

"That won't work on him Misaki, Aogami is an everything con you name it and he's into" Touma explained

"Alright then how about I change it so that you are asexual," Misaki said while pointing her remote at Aogami.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you miss Mental out," Tsuchimikado said

"And why not?" Misaki mused

"Two reasons one Kami here wouldn't like it if you went around drastically changing people's personalities just because you felt like it," Tsuchimikado said while pointing at Touma.

This stunned Misaki as he was right if she was going to win over her Prince today then she couldn't look like some sort of petty child who would hurt people. She knew that Touma hated those kinds of people.

"And the second is this" Tsuchimikado said while revealing the photo that he doctored.

In the photo, it showed the time Misaki held Touma's hands just a few minutes prior except they could tell it was doctored due to the fact that the background was of them in a hotel suite together. The photo looked as though someone saw them together in a hotel while looking through the window.

"How dare you! You took the time I spent with my Prince and twisted it to suit your own needs. This just gives me all the more reason to control your mind and force you to destroy all copies of this photo" Misaki said.

"Like I said I wouldn't do that if I were you I sent this photo to a few other of my trusted companions and told them to send out this image if anything out of the ordinary were to happen to me and one of the first places it would be sent out would be to the Chairman of Tokiwadai" Tsuchimikado proclaimed.

"You're blackmailing me you-."Misaki began to say before she was interrupted by a pair of hands slamming into the table she was surprised to see that it was actually Touma.

"What the hell do you assholes think you're doing!"Touma yelled much to everyone's surprise. This surprised Misaki the most however since she rarely ever saw Touma get mad and even fewer times seen him curse.

"Misaki was right all along you guys are crap! I went along with your crazy schemes because I thought you guys were my friends, even when I knew some stuff we would get into was wrong I would still do it because I trusted you guys. And even after all of that, you pull something like this! I don't care if you guys hate my guts or think I'm a traitor I can take it but, you crossed a line when you threatened Misaki! We're through! The Delta Force our friendship everything I don't want to see you guys ever again!"Touma screamed as he grabbed Misaki's wrist and lead them both out of the tea shop.

Misaki simply looked back at them with a smug look on her face. But stopped when she looked at everybody who was involved in the whole argument she saw the look of regret on each of their faces.

* * *

Once Misaki and Touma were far enough away from the tea shop, so they couldn't be followed he let go of her wrist, and they began to walk slowly through the streets. Misaki could see the despondency painted on Touma's face as he just lost 2 people that he thought were his friends.

"I'm sorry," Misaki said while motioning to stop Touma

"Sorry for what? It's me that should be apologizing, you were right all along." Touma replied while looking Misaki.

"No, it's my fault that you were fighting in the first place if it wasn't for me then you would still have your friends"Misaki replied.

"No your wrong you just tried to look out for me, it was them who went too far in trying to blackmail you, the fact that they'd take it that far is why I did what I did, I don't want to be friends with people like that"

"Still they were your best friends"

"I know and I'd be lying if I said I was alright in truth I'm…."Touma began to saw before being interrupted by a certain honey blondes girls hand.

"Thank you for defending me I know it was hard and it was the last thing that I'd ever want you to do, but thank you"

Touma simply nodded and grabbed Misaki's hand as they continued on there walk

"You know if you ever need any help finding friends I'm great at finding." Misaki began to say waving her remote in her hand but was cut off by Touma's left hand.

"Thanks but I'm going to have to decline, this is something I have to do on my own not to mention that it'll be kind of sad if I had to resort to using my girlfriend in order to find new friends"

This immediately made Misaki's entire body turn scarlet he had just called her his girlfriend.

"G-Girlfriend."

"Yeah remember you said until the day was up we were a couple or did the golden girl forget" Touma teased.

"I most certainly did not" Misaki protested, but in reality, she had completely forgotten about all of that after the commotion with Touma's friends occurred.

"So where are we off to next Golden girl"

"Weren't you the one who was supposed to decide or did you forget huh."

"Not at all but that was when we were friends now that we're a 'couple' it's the girl who decides where they go" Touma corrected.

"Fine then…. Let's go to…. Uhhh"

"You're as bad at improv as you are at athletics aren't you"

"Shut up… Let me think for a second okay… how about the park"

"It's closed for renovations after something fried the cameras over there" Touma explained

"The underground mall"

"We go there every other day at this point I started to memorize the layout"

"Alright fine then what do you want to do?" Misaki snapped back

"Wanna go to the arcade?"

"That doesn't seem all that romantic" Misaki pointed out.

"Alright how about we just walk around and see where we end up" Touma suggested.

"Is that what you do in your free time?"

"Yeah mostly but usually I'm out shopping for groceries"

"I feel as though I'm beginning to see the reason why bad luck follows you like a stray cat"

"Do you have any better ideas"

"Not really besides a walk with my prince is as romantic as it can get so let's do it"

The two began to walk through the streets with Misaki holding onto Touma's right-hand everything felt perfect until they heard the sound of someone yelling from behind them along with a strange sound.

"NOW DIE" the young man screamed.

* * *

**4 Day Earlier**

Kaito Fumihiro was your run of the mill snobbish level 4 he had an esper power called 'Electron Blaster" it was able to forcibly control electrons in the "ambiguous" state of an electron where it is both particles and wave just like another certain level 5 however unlike her however he was only able to control the electrons with the palms of his hands and as a result of this greatly decreases the potential output of any attack he could create as anything bigger than a small ball and he would run the risk of burning his hands off. As a result of this, he developed an inferiority complex as although he had a similar ability to another level 5 he would never be able to actually match up due to the nature in which his powers operated by. He enjoyed picking on people who he thought were weaker and actively harassed lower levels especially level 0s. That is until one day when he was yelling at some level 0 girl that dared to ignore him he was stopped by a certain boy.

"What the Fuck do you think you're doing" Kaito yelled

"She obviously doesn't want to talk to you why can't you just take a hint and leave her alone!"

The young boy then motioned at the girl to leave while she thanked him while slightly blushing.

This infuriated Kaito to no end with him firing an electron blaster at this brat.

"What the hell!" The spiky black haired kid said while scolding him. After he picked himself out of the mud.

"Who do think you are some kind of hero, why don't I show you what happens to heroes around here" Kaito yelled as he charged another Electron Blaster at the boys face this time.

But for some reason, the boy wasn't running away instead he was running towards him with his right arm extended outwards. He had to be suicidal if he thought he could survive a point-blank shot of his Electron Blaster with his hand so with no hesitation he fired and aimed directly at his hand. But then he heard the sound of glass breaking and saw that his Electron Blaster shot was gone and the boy was to close for him to fire another and then everything went black.

When Kaito woke up it the sun had already set and it was completely dark outside he picked himself off the ground and realized that his jaw was killing him it was like a car crashed into the side of his face. After he made it back to the main road he was still burning hot with anger so he decided to take it out on the next person he saw no matter who they might be. However unfortunately for him, the first person he happened to come across as a certain white-haired boy.

"Hey snow white, stop right there!" Kaito yelled at the white-haired boy.

"Huh?"

"You heard me half pint today's not your lucky day because I'm pissed off and I need some little punk #$ to take it out on and it just so happens that you got selected."

The white-haired boy didn't even give a response and simply rolled his eyes at him as if this was something he was used to already. This made Kaito furious so instead of firing his Electron Blaster at the boy he decided to beat him with his fists just like that other boy just did to him. So when Kaito ran towards the white-haired boy who had just turned away and launched his at the back of his head.

***CRACK***

It took a moment for Kaito to notice that the arm he used to throw his punch was completely broken.

"AHHHH" Kaito cried as he bellowed in pain he was on his back now again from the force that was just used to break his arm. He then looked over at the white-haired boy and he was simply just walking away as if nothing happened.

Kaito decided that this was not how it was going to end so he decided to raise the one good arm he had left an fired it at the white-haired boy there was no way that he could deflect the full power of his Electron Blaster. So through the tears of pain that he still had from his arm being broken he did.

***ZHNGG***

Kaito could barely feel what had just happened it all happened so fast his mind couldn't even process what happened, he had fired his ability and it landed on the kid but then he looked over at the boy and noticed that he was still walking away still as though nothing had ever happened. He was then terrified to look over at the damage that his left hand had just taken. His entire pinky was entirely incinerated he couldn't even feel the pain because it happened so quickly and the wound self cauterized itself. He then promptly passed out due to shock. It took the ambulance 20 minutes to arrive where Kaito was he didn't even know who called them since he was in the middle of an alleyway in the bad part of the district. In those 20 minute, Kaito regretted ever challenging that white-haired boy and dreaded ever having his powers redirected at him again. But in the middle of his self wallowing, he had an epiphany none of this was his fault it was that spiky black haired kids fault if he had not interfered before then he never would have picked a fight with that monster. Kaito then decided that he was going to personally hunt down that boy and teach him what happens when you mess with him.

* * *

**Current Time**

Touma instinctively pushed Misaki to the ground away from himself to protect her from whoever this might of been however he used to much force and knocked her on her back hitting her head.

When Touma turned around he saw the same kid he stopped days ago except this time his right arm was in a sling and his entire left hand had bandages all over it save for his palm which was still smoking.

"What the hell are you doing!" Touma screamed at the boy.

"Oh, I didn't know that you went deaf after our little fight the last time you have my pity," Said the boy in a mocking tone of voice.

"Because of you I got my arm nearly got amputated due to almost all the bones in it being fractured and to top it all off I got my finger disintegrated off," the boy said as he continued on with his rant.

"What the hell are you even talking about I didn't do any of that stuff to you, the most ever did was hook you out to get you to stop blasting me!" Touma yelled.

"No it's all your Fucking fault, my life was fine until I met you, your like some kind of walking magnet for misfortune and I'm here to get Fucking end you" the boy continued to rant except this time he charged up another one of his blasts and aimed it at Touma once again.

The boy then hears that familiar sound of glass breaking once again, and this time backs up to get some distance on Touma.

"I'm not falling for that trick anymore."

"Why the hell are you doing this, I don't want to have to fight you!" Touma protested.

"That's okay because I'm not here to fight you I'm here to kill you! The boy screamed until he heard another voice speak up.

"Touma," Misaka said weakly trying to pick herself off of the ground.

The boy saw this and saw as a chance to take this guy down once and for all. From what he observed he could only erase his Electron Blaster with his right hand so if he got him to use his right hand for something else he could use his right hand which was secretly already healed to kill this punk.

Touma saw time slow down as he saw this kid looking at Misaki with a dark look and he knew that he was going to do something so immediately he dashed to where Misaki was. Touma then noticed that light emanated from both the kid's hands. The boy then fired two blasts at Touma. Touma then used the hand closest to Misaki his right hand in an attempt to shield her from damage and his left one to shield himself. When suddenly everyone who was present heard the sound of glass breaking and the sound of something reverbing.

Kaito didn't know what just happened he had just shot the kid with two of his most powerful attacks and he wasn't dead. He then turned his head and saw in terror of what had just happened. The boy didn't just erase his attack he shot it right back at him. Part of the building that was behind had a giant hole in it with smoke coming from the scorch marks left by the attack he then saw the bay who he had just planned on killing slowly walk up to him.

"What the hell was that!?" Kaito yelled in a panic to the boy

The boy said nothing but the look on his face said everything that he needed to know. It said that this is the end for you.

Kaito then shot another Electron Blast at the guy only to hear the reverbing sound again and have this one shot back at him and nearly grazing his arm, he could feel the heat as it passed by his arm.

"GET AWAY FROM ME YOU FREAK!" Kaito began frantically panicking while backing up and even tripped over himself. He then began scurrying across the floor trying to get as much distance as he could away from this monster. This guy was exactly the same as the other monster he had encountered after he had his first run-in with this kid except, this time he didn't have the look of indifference on his face he had the look that made him sure that he was going to kill him.

Kaito then picked himself off the ground and started to run. He couldn't win this fight, he wouldn't win so all he could do now is try to survive. So Kaito started running and did not stop or look back until he was sure that he wasn't followed.

This annoyed Touma to no end as he Wanted to knock some sense into that kid for attacking him and then running off. Touma decided that the kid wasn't worth running after if he ran away now chances are he won't come back, instead he rushed over to where Misaki was and helped her up.

"Misaki are you okay," Touma said while looking at Misaki scanning her body for any injuries.

"Other than the one to my pride I'm good," Misaki said until Touma noticed her hands were slightly scraped and very lightly bleeding.

At the sight of this Touma quickly backed away from her.

"This is my fault, this is all my fault, that guy was right they both were, it's the same as it was as before" Touma muttered to himself as he remembered the reason why he came to academy city in the first place.

"I'm sorry Misaki but … I should go" Touma said regretfully.

"Go? What are you talking about, because of this?" Misaki said while holding her hand in the air to give Touma a better look.

Touma didn't give a response as he just stood there silently.

"My Prince you saved me this is a small price to pay to be in one piece," Misaki said while emphasizing her point by extending her hands towards Touma.

"That's the thing you shouldn't have had to pay a price in the first place," Touma said somberly as he started to walk away from Misaki.

"My Prince wait!" Misaki then rushed to stop Touma before he got too far away, and she couldn't keep up.

* * *

Eventually, she was able to stop him in at a nearby park and grabbed him by the arm.

"Slow down…. You know I can't keep up with you if you keep running like that" Misaki huffed out as she was trying to catch her breath.

"I wasn't running I was walking away, something you should be doing to," Touma said while not Looking Misaki in the eye.

"Why are you so upset over this, this sort of stuff always happens to you doesn't it so why-" Misaki started to say before being cut off by Touma.

"Exactly! This sort of stuff happens to '**me**' every day and now because of that you nearly got killed for something I did, that guy was right all along" Touma explained.

"That lunatic, don't listen to what he says he was insane"

"He was right! My whole life has been surrounded by misfortune and because of my selfishness I dragged you into to, you would have been better off if you never met me." Touma said.

Just then Misaki slapped Touma across the face hard enough to leave a mark and hard enough to open the scrape marks on her palms.

"Your wrong! Do you even know why I was in that forest, to begin with!" Misaki shouted.

Touma was still reeling in the fact that this was the first time that Misaki ever hit him hard enough for it to hurt, and then started wondering what she could have meant.

"I was going to end it, wipe the entire slate clean"

"What are you talking about?"

"I was going to erase all of my memories, so I wouldn't have to live with it anymore

"What! Live with what!?".

"Everything, my entire life was full of darkness and because of my own selfishness, I ended up letting my best friend die in the name of science. After that, I dedicated myself to never let that happen again and once I made sure that it didn't I just felt empty. There wasn't anything left for me I had lost my innocence long ago and thought maybe I could get it back if I just wiped the slate clean."

Touma just stood there in shock of everything that Misaki had to go through to make her want to erase who she was in the hopes of regaining her innocence.

"But then I met you, at first I thought you were just like everyone else only wanting to get on my good side. But you weren't all you were trying to do was help me and for a brief second, I forgot all about that darkness. After that I never thought I would have met you again but there you were, it was like fate that we met again, and yet again you didn't care who I was or what I'd done, you just treated me like any other person and at that point. I truly felt happy, after that you showed me that my way of doing things was just hurting the people closest to me, you taught me how to make real friends. You showed me that the world wasn't just full of darkness and despair it also held light and joy".

"You're giving me way too much credit I didn't do any of that all." Touma was saying before he was cut off by Misaki.

"That's where you're wrong, This summer although it was full of its ups and downs, it was the happiest period of my life and I wouldn't trade it nor erase it for anything in the world, so what if I got a little scraped up, I knew the risks when deciding to hang out with you, I'm not blind you know, everyday I see you with more bruises than I care to count after the results of your bad luck, but I don't care, I just wanted the chance to be by your side to be close to you"

"Do you know why I came to Academy city in the first place"

Misaki did not know, so she simply looked at Touma and waited for an answer.

"Ever since I was a kid I always brought bad luck with me, at first I just got used to it you know and decided to live with it even with all the other kids nicknaming me The God of Pestilence and avoiding me like I was the plague. But one day when I was still a kid I decided to help out a guy who dropped the papers from his briefcase, he thanked me and went left after. What I didn't know was that guy was superstitious and that same day I helped him out he went bankrupt. He apparently knew someone who knew about my precarious luck and decided to blame me for all his troubles, so he found me and tried to stab me to death. I would have been dead if my dad didn't stop him. After that things just started spiraling out of control, the media showed my picture on TV making it so everyone knew who I was and about my bad luck. It even got to the point where a TV station wanted to make a reality TV show about my luck. That was the breaking point for my family, they decided to send me to academy city a place that didn't believe in the supernatural, they had to send their only child away just so he could live a regular life even if it meant they couldn't be by his side anymore. When I look back on it now I guess that was all my lucks fault too, the people who cared about me the most had to let me go in the end just so I could be happy. Me this unlucky Kamijou." Touma said while pointing to himself.

"That's why... That's why this would never work, you'll just be setting yourself up for more tragedy down the line. I'm glad that I was able to help you but I think that you'll do just fine on your own from here on out okay." Touma with a heavy heart meant every word from the bottom of his heart. Then Touma started to turn his back on Misaki.

"I refuse to accept that!" Misaki shouted which made Touma turn his head.

"Everyday you help complete strangers while asking for nothing in return, sometimes it seems like you don't even want their gratitude I always wondered why. But after hearing your story I know why, you believe that if you accepted their gratitude that you would only invite misfortune upon them so you distance yourself from them believing that you could never truly be happy, you were content just because others were safe. But that is just an illusion you placed on yourself to stop yourself from ever even trying to find happiness. So if that is your only reason why then I won't accept it. I won't accept some illusion you placed over your heart just because you're afraid you might hurt me."

Touma looked at Misaki with shock what she was saying was true, but even after all of that he still couldn't find a reason as to tell her no, no matter how hard he tried no matter which way he looked at it he couldn't find a single reason as to say no.

"Why?" Touma said in a despondent tone of voice while looking at Misaki.

"Why. Isn't it obvious it's because…" Misaki was turning more and more red after every word she spoke until it hit a fever pitch, and she said.

"Because I Love you"

Touma's eyes widen at her words, no one had ever said that they loved him before save for his family.

"I don't care how bad you think your luck may be, I don't care that you say your afraid your luck is going to end up hurting me, as long as I can be by your side I'll be happy, besides I know that you'll always be there to protect me if things ever do become more than I could handle besides have you already forgotten I'm a level 5 I can hold my own against anyone would dare come after us no matter who they might be," Misaki said while holding onto her Prince's hands and gazing into his eyes.

There was silence between the two for a moment as neither knew what to say. So Misaki made the first move she inched closer to Touma's face and before either of them knew it she had kissed Touma on the lips. Touma could feel her soft lips push up against his, he could smell the sweet smell of honey emanating from Misaki and for a moment Touma forgot about all of his problems and just lived in this single moment.

"Huh?"

"Consider that the first of many thank you's that I owe you for saving me," Misaki said while blushing.

Touma's mind began to go into overdrive as he had to process the fact that not only did Misaki confess to him, but she also kissed him.

"Are you sure you want to go out me even if it ends up hurting you in the end"

"Of course as long as I have a chance to stay by your side, I will"

Touma took a moment to gather up his thoughts about the next words he was going to say.

"Well then I…." Touma was about to say before being stopped by the sounds of sirens blaring from a blimp above them.

Both Misaki and Touma looked up in horror at the blimp as they finished reading the message that was being presented on it.

* * *

**20 Minutes Ago**

Kaito had finally stopped running after calming down at the second monster that he had faced down. Once he stopped to gather his thoughts he was full of anger, he had lost to that boy yet again and not only that he ran away like a scared child. It got to the point where he was slamming his foot against the dumpster in the alley he was in alerting the others who were already there.

"What are you doing?" The strange woman said

"Who the fuck are you supposed to be!" Kaito yelled as he began charging up his electron Blaster at the mysterious woman who he can now see clearly, is wearing a red helmet along with a red suit that had inline skate wheels all over the suit.

"We weren't after you per se, but seeing as your already here now is as good a chance as any to test out our Queen Diver suits," The woman said coldly.

"We?" Kaito said as he turned around and saw that he was surrounded by others wearing the same red suit and helmet.

* * *

**Current Time.**

Kaito Fumihiro found Murdered Please return to your homes immediately, the suspects are still on the loose.

Touma and Misaki then turned their heads as they could hear the sound of wheels burning off into the distance.

"We have to get out of here," Touma said as he grabbed Misaki's wrist and started to lead her into an alleyway.


	6. Chapter 6 Promises

**Hey, guys here's the conclusion for the Misaki Golden Days arc. Sorry in advance for the upcoming fight scene I'm still learning. Thanks for all of the feedback it helps me out.**

**Nguyen Thanh Long: Yep some things never change.**

**Whwsms: Yeah I thought that the wind turbines had screens on them.**

**Bluejack22: SHHHH don't reveal any secrets. Shattering illusions is Touma's job.**

**Fortitude501: Maybe, we'll just have to wait and see.**

**Savior555: Glad you enjoyed the chapter.**

**Guest: Yes I saw your comment thank you it helped flesh out the true mechanics of his other ability which will be revealed in upcoming chapters. Also, it probably wouldn't help Touma that much in fighting someone of Accelerators level but then again people thought that about imagine breaker and yet somehow he always shatters peoples illusions.**

**Mercenory: Thank you for the support and all will be revealed in due time.**

** Promises**

**August 31**

"Pant Pant!"

Kamijou Touma panted like an exhausted stray dog as he ran. Being chased around like this wasn't anything new for Touma as most of his days ended up like this. However, this time was different. He wasn't alone. His hand held Shokuhou Misaki who wore a brand new summer uniform.

"Why did you take us into an empty alley, Touma!" Misaki said.

"Given their speed, a wide street is more dangerous! When they're moving that fast, they shouldn't be able to make tight turns!"

While Touma didn't actually see their pursuers, but he could hear them well enough to know that they were using some type of machine to get around faster as he could her wheel screech across the ground.

As Touma and Misaki were running away from the sound through the alley the sound eventually came closer and when Touma turned around he saw it. Their pursuer was a boy in a red riding suit and a full-face helmet. However, he had small inline skate wheels attached everywhere from the bottoms of the feet, knees, elbows, shoulders, wrists, waist, back, chest, etc.

On top of that, he had two tiny jet engines on his back. They were twenty centimeters wide and fifty-five centimeters long. It was like he was a figure skater and iron-man had teamed up to create something to kill them. From the way he seemed to be moving he had to be going at least two hundred kilometers per hour and that meant if he crashed into them that it would be as good as a death sentence.

When Misaki finally turned around to see her pursuer she grabbed her remote and pointed it at them. However, he was moving at such a high speed and leaping from every direction to the walls and the floor again it was hard to get in a shot. Eventually, she was able to predict his movements and fire accordingly however he didn't stop completely, he slowed down but was still going forward to attack them.

_'Does that helmet detect the abnormal brain wave ability and switch control of the suit over to a program!? Wait if that is true then these suits were designed specifically to kill me. Mental Out is a powerful Mental ability that only works on people, not machinery or animals, something like that wouldn't just be programmed into the suit randomly they were targeting me'_ Misaki thought to herself.

Touma then grabbed the remote from Misaki's hand and threw it at their pursuers. As soon as the remote hit the full-face helmet, the riding suit lost its balance while clinging to the wall as he was chasing them and flipped into a pile of garbage cans while the jet engines on his back were still going off.

"You gotta be kidding me Just how dangerous are these things they're relying on!?" Touma said.

As the two finally left the alley leaving their pursuer behind Misaki stopped to catch her breath this was the fastest and longest that she had ever run before, and she looked as though she was about to keel over from exhaustion.

"Are you okay?" Touma asked.

"Yes…. I think I'm alright" Misaki said while heavily panting.

As soon as they finish that sentence they were immediately approached by more people with those same red suits on.

Touma then angrily shouted, "What the hell do you want!"

"Death to the Level 5." It sounded like the ritual of some strange cult. Their resentful voices would overpower anyone who heard them but showed just how misguided they were.

"Death to the Level 5 who has taken everything from us."

Touma immediately put together that they wanted to kill Misaki, he had heard of people hating espers before but this was one of the few times when he saw it to this extreme. Touma then grabbed Misaki's arm and started to run into an abandoned building his plan was simple he was going into the building and force the people to split up since they had no idea if he was going to the roof or just cutting across to the other side.

However, Touma knew very well that Misaki had a hard enough time just running here, to begin with, so he decided to carry her up the stair bridal style. When they finally arrived at the roof however they were only greeted by the same people in the red suits firing missiles at them, so Touma put Misaki down, and they both jumped to the next building closest to them and went down the fire escape there.

As they made their way down from the fire escape they both made a break for the water ravine. They jumped over the railing although Touma had to slow down to help Misaki over and crossed the small ravine even though the waters were 1 meter in height it still gave Misaki some trouble due to the current flow. Just then a member of the group chasing them started to speak.

"Are you sure you want to keep this up?" He was telling Kamijou he would be spared if he backed off now.

"Of course I'm sure!" Touma replied without even a second of hesitation.

"You must be a pretty powerful esper to say that. But don't take us lightly because we rely on tools. Even Level 4s aren't uncommon in our group."

"I'm nothing that amazing," Touma spat out. "I'm a Level 0. ... But there are still things I can't allow.

The man in the red suit head tilted ever so slightly.

"I see. So you're one of us."

Touma and Misaki were finally able to get out of the ravine and make it to the other side of the street only to find it deserted just then the rest of the people in red suits arrived as well.

The man who Touma was speaking to before had raised his arm to stop his comrades and began to speak to Touma

"Don't you find it odd?"

"Find what odd?"

"Everything. From the very fact that you've decided to fight for Shokuhou Misaki in this hopeless situation, doesn't it seem like she's already controlling you with her Mental Out?"

"What a joke," Touma said to the man.

"Hmm?"

"If that's why you think I'm doing this, then your even blinder than I originally pegged you all for. You paint Misaki as though she's the villain in your story, well take a good look at yourselves your the ones chasing a helpless girl in the hopes of killing her." Touma shouted back.

"You see I can agree with you there, but if you take a moment to look at the facts you can't deny that she's the reason to blame for why we're all here, to begin with. She's the reason why all of us stopped growing because she controlled all of us at one point or another with her power, because of her we can't move up any more in this city she's the reason why we call ourselves '**Deadlock**', because without her death we can never continue to move forward."

"Is it fun blaming others for your own failures? The harder it is to prove something, the harder it is to argue against it. You all made up a reason why it was okay for you to fail. That way you could rest easy as you got lazy. ... You know very well Misaki isn't what caused your setbacks."

"Perhaps. Even I wonder if we're right about this. Every time I think about attacking the Level 5 named Shokuhou Misaki, I feel something like a conscience throbbing inside says this is all the work of a monster created by our own weak hearts and the external factor of Shokuhou Misaki has nothing to do with it. But that's all probably another one of her abilities that she used on us for her own benefit. Think about for what other reason do you have to stand against us what could have caused this distortion in your heart to protect her." The man refused to listen to any semblance of logic only trying to find something or someone to blame for his own problems.

As Touma and the man from Deadlock continued to have their discussion Misaki couldn't help but hear that man's words. Could it be true could she really be the reason as to why they are all like this, to begin with. Misaki had always been careful when taking over another person. If someone she controlled died or killed someone, she would have to be punished as the one in control. She had that much resolve and dignity. But what if that was meaningless?

What if she had already controlled countless people without realizing it and that had led them to lose fortunes, closed off their futures, or even taken their lives? However, her train of thought was cut short as Touma began to speak.

"That is why I won't call your anger wrong. However none of that matters. That crazy conspiracy theory has nothing to do with this. Listen, you thugs. It doesn't matter if these feelings came from my own heart or if they were placed there by a Level 5. It doesn't matter if I really think this or if I'm being deceived and manipulated by someone. If it leads me to stand here and protect a girl with tears in her eyes, I wouldn't want anything else." Touma said with no hesitation or doubt in his eyes.

"Ha! Hahaha ha ha ha ha hahaha. Then I hope you prepared to die you clown"!

"You bet. And I hope you guys are willing to put your life on the line and come at me with everything you've got."

Just then something unexpected occurred, something that neither side thought possible to have happened.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Kami-yan!"

Everyone present then turned their heads to the appearance of two mysterious additions to the upcoming fight. It was a boy with blonde hair wearing a Hawaiian shirt with a gold chain accompanied by a boy with blue hair and whose eyes seemed to be closed.

"What are you guys doing here!" Touma shouted.

"Sorry Kami but you can't just throw away your membership to the Delta Force that easily." Aogami Declared.

"He's right you know that things for life no matter what happens" Tsuchimikado chimed in.

"So these idiots are with you two I see" The man from Deadlock spat out.

"Yeah, what it's to you, you BDSM maniacs!?" Aogami shouted back

The man from Deadlock was quickly taken aback by this that was the last thing he ever expected to come out of that kid's mouth.

"So I see a certain Level 5 also called you all here, can't say that I'm surprised." The man was saying before being abruptly cut off by Tsuchimikado.

"That's where you dumbfucks got it wrong were not here because of her" Tsuchimikado said while pointing to Misaki.

"We're here because he's here and since Kami decided that he's gonna put his life on the line to save his girl we decided we could kill two birds with one stone, to save our friend and to rid the world of the Kami-yan disease."

Everyone present except Touma had the same thought.

'_Kami-yan Disease!?'_

"Tsuchimikado now is not the Time!" Touma shouted.

"What's this Kami-yan Disease you all speak of" The man from Deadlock questioned while looking at Touma.

"Something you Fucks don't need to worry about!" Aogami shouted.

_'Why, why did they come back for him. Even after he cut all ties with them only just a few hours ago.'_ Misaki thought to herself.

Misaki then picked herself from the mental slump that she was in as was determined to fight back against Deadlock she then grabbed her remote and devised a plan, she had them take each other out, it would not be easy. They were set to switch to program control once she took over, but once that happened any foreign movement made to them would cause them to crash into the ground which meant their suits would automatically reset allowing her to take them over.

With a great roar, the boys and girls of Deadlock rushed in from thirty different directions while wielding their explosive-driven pile bunkers. The fight between the two groups has finally begun.

As Touma was rolling out of the way of the incoming missiles being shot at him he couldn't help but worry about his friends and Misaki. While he knew this wasn't his fault he wouldn't be able to live with himself if one of them died there so at that moment Touma made a promise to himself.

_'No matter what happens I'm going to save everyone. No Matter the cost!'_ Touma yelled to himself internally.

While this was going on Aogami quickly learned of how fast and deadly these members of Deadlock really were they were jumping from every which angle just to get closer to him to fire one of those missiles, however Aogami noticed that they only had one missile each so once that was gone there only means of attack would have to be head-on.

Aogami then began to formulate a plan, he ran over to the nearby Garbage area and grabbed several cans and other objects and started throwing them at passing Deadlock members. As expected the Deadlock members quickly zeroed in and Aogami and started firing a hail storm of missiles at him which Aogami casually dodged. He was going to make them waste all of their fire-power, so they would be forced into hand-to-hand combat.

Once the smoke cleared the Deadlock members quickly rolled over to see if Aogami had died but to their surprise, he came out of the smoke and quickly proceeded to hit them in the back with a steel pipe he had found and aimed directly at the tiny jet engines on their back. This caused the engines to go haywire and sent them flying into every which direction eventually crashing into other members of Deadlock in total Aogami took down 10 members of the Deadlock Gang. Before Aogami could celebrate his victory for the long the last member of Deadlock who had yet to waste their missile took aim at Aogami and fired however he wasn't aiming directly at Aogami instead he aimed for the pile of Garbage next to him in the hopes that the debris from there would strike him like a spread shot bullet.

And it did, while Aogami wasn't to badly hurt by this it did make it so that he couldn't move as fast as he did before and before he knew it the same member of deadlock who was talking to Touma came up to him and shouldered Aogami into the ground luckily for Aogami the man did not want to run the risk of himself dying before he could kill Misaki, so he was just knocked out cold with a few broken bones.

The rest of Touma's group continued to fight Misaki made sure that Aogami's efforts did not go in vain, and she quickly took control of all the Deadlock members that he had just taken down and used the ones who could still move to fight for their side. The members of deadlock did not expect that their comrades could be turned against them so easily, so they didn't notice before it was too late. Once she had taken control of them she would make the run into the other remaining members of Deadlock causing them to fall over, and she would take them over as well. Before they knew it Misaki had put a total of 17 members of Deadlock under her control and was making them fight for her. However, this did not go without a bit of a headache as the more people she controlled the more her mind would be spread out and the less complicated the orders she would be able to give.

While the whole ordeal with Aogami and Misaki was going on Touma and Tsuchimikado decided to team up and shield Misaki from any danger, they were simply brawling against the Deadlock at this point with them having to resort to hit-and-run tactics to even stop one of them since if one member of Deadlock decided to pick up too much speed it meant that the both of them would have to get out of the way as to not die. However, they both seemed to notice that the members of Deadlock were getting more and more desperate with them Flinging themselves at them with no regard to their safety as when one member would rush into crash into the duo another one would quickly come to take its place even if it meant crashing into the other member of Deadlock and catching fire.

This sight made Touma sick to his very stomach he could not stand to see people mindlessly throwing away their lives like this. Just as Touma turned around he could see that the man that he was talking to originally had started to organize his remaining troops into an inverted V formation something akin to what a general would due to destroy their enemy. In total, the number of members in Deadlocks V formation was about 13 all the remaining members of Deadlock 6 for each side and the leader in the center they were going to kill them even if it meant all of them had to die in the process.

"Kami block this with your left hand and aim it at those guys!"

Touma didn't know what Tsuchimikado meant but did so and braced his left arm for impact while aiming it at the incoming members of Deadlock.

"Hey, assholes! My magic name is, **Fallere825** — The backstabbing blade, Onmyoudou Arts- Hey stupid fucking matches be useful and lite shit up (The color red is the symbol of fire. Open a path similar to that violence!) Tsuchimikado shouted as he pulled out a packet of matches from his pocket at threw it at Touma's left hand.

To Touma's surprise, he saw the packet of Matches become a giant fireball barreling straight for him. Instead of running as any sane person would do he instead put his faith in the friends that came back to save him and blocked it with his left hand.

***REVERB***

He then heard a loud reverbing sound emanating from his hand and immediately a ball of energy shot out of his left hand and was sent barreling towards the members of Deadlock who were shocked that two people who they assumed to be level 0s like themselves could wield so much power.

The ball of energy hit the ground in the middle of their formation a giant burst of light and energy exploded, every person who was present during the attack was sent flying in the opposite direction from which the explosion originated from.

"What the hell was that! Touma shouted as he turned over to see Tsuchimikado bleeding heavily from his abdomen and was struggling to stay up swaying from side to side.

"Well that turned out differently than I expected, but the result is still the same" he then collapsed onto the ground in a pile of his blood.

Before Touma or Misaki could celebrate however they heard the sound of an ambulance coming towards them they were saved. But when Touma turned around to the still burning smoke which he had caused from the explosion he saw the last remaining member of Deadlock standing up and begging to take a charging position at Misaki. Misaki not noticing this could not move away in time. With that in mind Touma ran full sprint Towards Misaki he knew that he couldn't stop that man from hitting her but what he could do was change the target.

As Touma got closer, Misaki finally noticed the Burning of wheels coming from the smoke, and she saw it the last member of Deadlock heading straight for her, she was frozen in fear as when she reached for her remote she had dropped it from her hands. Time had slowed down for the next moment as three things happened simultaneously to three different people, Misaki looking death straight in the face unable to move her body in time to dodge, The man putting everything in this last-ditch attack to kill Misaki the source of what he believes is all of his problems, and the boy who would break through all illusions to keep true to his promise.

Touma had pushed Misaki out of the way of the incoming attack and used his body to cushion the crash for the man who had planned on dying. Touma's body was sent skidding across the pavement like a rag doll when he was finally stopped by a building. Touma's entire body had looked like it had been through a shredder he was covered in blood and could not move a muscle in his entire body. The other man while not to the same extent of Touma was also badly injured as his leg had completely shattered, and he had lost consciousness the moment he made an impact, but he was still alive.

Touma…...TOUMA!" Misaki screamed as the ambulances and Anti-skill out had finally arrived on the scene.

With her uniform stained in his blood and tears streaming down her face, she cried out to him, "PLEASE! ANSWER ME...! I WON'T FORGIVE YOU IF YOU DIE SAVING ME..!"

As members of Anti Skill started to round up the members of Deadlock still under Misaki's control. Misaki saw her last chance to save her Prince's life. She quickly took out her remaining controller and used it to take control of the paramedics on the scene, she didn't care if anyone else saw her use her powers, she didn't care about protocol all she cared about was saving his life, like he had done for her time and time again. Once she had all of them under her control she immediately ordered them to take Touma to the ambulance to take him to a certain Hospital as she knew the doctor there would be the only one able to save his life.

"What's his condition?!" Misaki ordered.

"Not good. From the looks of this most of his ribs broke on impact and from the way he is breathing he's likely to puncture one of his lungs killing him."

"Can't you do something to calm his breathing down, don't you have any anesthesia on board this damn ambulance!?" Misaki shouted.

"Unfortunately we used up all our anesthesia on another patient we had before this, we were going to restock, but then we got a call to come here immediately.

"GODDAMMIT!" Misaki shouted

'_Why. Why can't I ever do anything right? I was the reason why they did this, me! He protected me even knowing full well that he would die he even protected that worthless pathetic degenerate who tried t kill me, and I can't even save him...Wait'_ Misaki thought to herself.

"If I could control his breathing will he have a chance of survival!"

"Well yes theoretically if you could slow down his breathing it would increase his chance of survival, why?"

"My ability Mental Out allows me to control the human brain through moisture and bioelectricity"

"I would have to warn you of the risks, the patient has lost a significant amount of blood and any action you would take involving tampering with his brain might run the risks of permanently altering it."

"If I do nothing than what are the odds of him making it to the hospital alive"

"Almost none."

"Then you have my answer."

Misaki began to take off her already damaged gloves and placed both of her hands on her Prince's head. This would be the first time she had ever attempted something like this. Misaki would have to calculate and navigate through Touma's brain while avoiding the nerves connecting both of his hands for this to work. It would take all of Misaki's calculations abilities and more just to attempt something like this. At first, Touma started to convulse but it slowly stopped as she had finally made the correct calculation and had finally been able to work her way around the nerves connecting his hands to his brain.

However, Misaki was far from done she would have to keep this connection going less he started to convulse again. While Misaki was holding the connection she started to get a vision, no it was more like she had entered the mindscape of her beloved she was in a hallway of complete light and on the walls of these hallways were picture and upon closer inspection she saw that they were actually memories, memories of Misaki and him spending time together she then saw as the picture slowly fades out of existence and quickly saw that all the others were starting to disappear to Misaki then quickly ran through the hallway until she stopped at one picture, in particular, it was when they first met in that forest all those weeks ago.

Misaki then clenched her fist as she read what was written on the bottom of the picture.

'**My First Meeting With Golden Girl**'.

At this Misaki started to cry tears welling up in her eyes as she could not stop what was occurring she was erasing his memories of the summer they had spent together he was forgetting her.

Misaki then looked at herself in that photo, she looked as though she saw a complete stranger, though it was not that long, she had changed significantly these last few weeks. No longer did she have that dead look in her eyes, she now had a purpose.

She could stop the connection right now and preserve the memories, but she refused, this was her time to protect his light. Even if it meant he would forget everything about her, even if he would forget about all the promises that they had made to each other it was her turn to bear his burdens it was finally her chance.

She then looked on as the painting started to fade away from existence. She simply looked on and held her ground. She then saw an image of Touma in the hallway, and he simply said.

"Thank you." and smiled. And she smiled back watching as her last moments with her prince was coming to an end.

"Were here get the ICU prepped and call Heaven Canceler immediately!" The paramedics screamed snapping Misaki out of her trance-like state.

As Misaki watched as they carted her prince off she simply had one thought.

_'This is what he feels like every day isn't it? throwing away your own wants to help others no matter what the cost is. I'm glad I finally got to stand there next to you in that light my Prince even if it was only for a second.'_

* * *

**September 1**

Minutes had turned into hours as Misaki waited for Touma to come out of surgery. She knew all too well of this hospital and how her Prince had a reserved room just for him due to all of his repeat visits, but she still couldn't get the image of her erasing all of her Prince's memories, what if Deadlock was right and her powers did something irreparable to his brain. Before she could have any more of those thought she finally saw her Prince. Granted he was still unconscious and was being wheeled in a hospital stretcher to his room, but he was alive nonetheless she felt a huge wave of relief pass her over as now she knew that he was alive. However, once that passed another current of despair came and took its place in the form of his mental health.

_ Could I have done something to change him from the person who he was before? Will he be the same Prince that I knew even if he doesn't remember it._

"Hey, would you look at that Kami made it after all," Tsuchimikado said.

Misaki then turned to see Tsuchimikado standing on the other side of the hallway slowly making his way forward she could see the bandages wrapped around his stomach.

"Thank you for helping me save his life and saving mine," Misaki said.

"No problem Kami is an indispensable asset to the Delta Force we wouldn't be complete without him, besides you haven't heard the full news about his condition yet have you?"

"No, what happened?"

"Well I don't know all the details but the Doc did mention that Kami has partial total memory erasure, it was like a part of his brain had been completely deleted."

Misaki was silent and looked down at the ground with shame, she already knew that it was her fault for tampering with his mind.

"I see...," Misaki said softly.

"Well since that's the case I see a way you can pay back the favor Miss Shokuhou."

"And how is that?" Misaki looked at him with concern in her eyes.

"Nothing like that I swear, it's just when Kami wakes up don't tell him that I used my esper ability or even mention that I have one, can you do that?"

"Alright it's a deal I won't mention this to my Prince on one condition"

"That is?"

"Don't tell your perverted blue-haired friend that I owe him one too, lest he gets any funny ideas"

"Deal and I wouldn't worry about Aogami he'll probably use that favor of yours to get out of trouble"

"I know" Misaki replied with disdain in her voice

"Kay well if you don't mind me I'm gonna go see how Aogami's doing," Tsuchimikado said while waving to Misaki.

_'My Prince I think I can understand why you hang out with them now, even if they are revolting'_ Misaki thought to herself.

Misaki then noticed a certain frog-faced doctor making his way to her Prince's room.

"Mr. Heaven canceler wait!" Misaki said while waving down the doctor.

"Oh if it isn't our repeat guest visitor Miss Shokuhou," Heaven Canceler said.

"Doctor what can you tell me about his condition."

"Well I can tell you one thing it was thanks to you that he's still alive, the way his body looked like when he arrived was something akin to a race car crashing into a pedestrian, multiple fractured ribs a hemorrhaging in the brain and massive internal bleeding, I not sure if the anesthesia they didn't have available in the ambulance would have been strong enough to calm him down enough to stop his convulsing"

"I already knew that I mean what about his current condition!" Misaki shouted.

Heaven Canceler then took a sobering look at Misaki as he had to break the news to her on his true condition.

"As you already suspected Mr. Kamijou has suffered from partial memory destruction, we have no idea where how far back it goes but, that's only the beginning."

"There's more?" Misaki said as she started to turn paler.

"Yes, as you know your ability Mental out uses moisture inside the brain to control its target however using such an ability on someone who has already lost a significant amount of blood could lead to some complications"

"Complications?"

"Yes, in a sense the way your powers interfered with his brain connection may have lead to a type of **Anterograde amnesia** where his brain is unable to make any new memories however due to the localized space that you accessed in his brain…. He might not be able to make any new memories of you and only you."

Misaki's face was completely void of any light as she already expected something like this might happen the one person she truly cared for would be taken away from her due to her own mistakes.

"However there might still be a chance, the brain isn't 100% you know, that's why I came down here myself to see how his memory is holding up," Heaven Canceler said.

"Please let me."

"Are you sure that you can handle this Miss Shokuhou? I mean-"

"Please. This has to be me".

"Alright then go right ahead," Heaven Canceler said while motioning to the door to Touma's room.

Misaki stood there in front of the door afraid to even move an inch closer. Right now she still had hope, but when she turns the knob it could all go away just like that. As though it was never there, to begin with.

***SMACK!*** Misaki slapped herself on the cheek to gather the courage to take that step inside of that hospital room.

"Hey there."

"Umm, Hey, I think you have the wrong room."

"No I'm exactly where I need to be, can you tell me if you remember me?"

"I'm sorry but I don't who you are, did we know each other?"

"In a way yes we were best friends"

"Really?"

"Yes"

"Umm, Okay then why don't I remember you?"

"There was an accident that I caused and it made it so that you lost your memories."

"Are you serious!?"

"Yes, but right now that doesn't matter."

"What do you mean that doesn't matter, that seems like it should be a big deal to me."

"It might but, first I want to test something out if you don't mind?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Trust me, can you do that for me one last time?" Misaki pleaded

"Okay, I guess."

"Thank you," Misaki said as she exited the room and closed the door behind her.

_'I am a woman of science, not faith, but ever since I met him nothing seemed to make any sense anymore. He doesn't follow the world's logic, his very essence in nature is illogical, to say the least, he would break through reality itself if it meant he was able to save another. So that's why I'm asking you, please give me this one chance, a chance to help him keep his promise. It's the least you owe him after everything he's done, everything he's sacrificed. Can you please give him this one miracle, and I swear I will make it right.'_

Misaki then stepped back into the room.

"Hey… do you remember me?" Misaki hesitantly asked.

"...I'm sorry but who are you?"

Misaki's eyes started to water, but she would not cry because if she did she would only bring more pain onto her Prince. The one smile he could not protect or even remember.

As Misaki started to turn for the door she was stopped, it felt as though the whole world itself came to a halt just for this one moment in time.

"But you know, it's your own fault."

"Huh!?"

"You can't just come in here and spout out that were friends or something like some weird heroine then leave after asking some mysterious question like that. Besides, how am I supposed to know you when you don't even greet me properly. The name's Kamijou Touma golden girl." Touma did not actually know the girl's name but saw this as the best way to do so as girls hate being called nicknames and would usually respond with their actual names. Or normally they should.

Misaki's eyes started to flood with tears she couldn't hold them back anymore. She grasped her chest with her hand as her miracle did finally happen, she could finally protect that light she had thought lost.

Misaki then rushed to Touma's bed and hugged him as though she was never going to let him go.

This, however, did not sit right with Touma at all since he had never met this crazy person before, and he felt that his ribs were going to start to break apart once again.

"Doctor! Nurse anyone!" Touma yelled as he was gasping for air.

* * *

**Outside Touma's Room**.

"Say doc you already knew that Kami didn't have the anterograde amnesia thing didn't you?" Tsuchimikado asked.

"Yes, this was just me keeping a promise that I made to Mr. Kamijou a while back."

"You're kidding me, Kami-yan actually wanted you to do that?"

"In a way, he said he was worried about how miss Shokuhou would abuse her powers and if she ever accidentally hurt someone it would kill her from the inside out"

"So you were just trying to put the fear of in god in her."

"Different people need different treatment, and as a doctor, it's my job to see that they get that treatment"

"You know if she ever finds out about this your as good as dead right."

"Its quite alright son, I'm more than capable of handling something like this…. However, if you could not mention this to her that would also be much appreciated."

"Mention what?"

"Exactly"

* * *

**In a certain High School**

Kumokawa Seria had just learned what had happened to Touma and Misaki last night and was on a conference call with her boss from the board of directors. She was viewing the meeting through a screen that was blacked out since she did not have a clearance level A which would allow her to actually sit in with the meeting this was the best she was going to get. The meeting went as you would have expected it to the entire meeting discussed Deadlock and how they were able to gain access to equipment such as the Queen Diver suits.

Ultimately it was decided that a man by the name Shundou Toshizou was the man who orchestrated the entire ordeal this was not the first time he was willing to sacrifice Espers in order to gain more information he was previously warned by a high ranking official on his behaviors during a Project called 'Clone Dolly' about these tendencies and what would happen to him if he did not. Ultimately the decision was passed to have Shundou Toshizou taken care of.

The meeting ended however, Kumokawa's boss a member of the board of directors did not contact her until 10 minutes after the meeting had been adjourned. This was quite strange to her as she knew that her Boss was very prompt and would immediately contact her once a meeting had ended to review everything that was discussed.

She later got the call from that said Member of the Board of Directors.

"Hello Miss Kumokawa"

"Yes"

"We have a new assignment we are the one who will be responsible for finding Shundou Toshizou for attempting to kill Touma Kamijou"

"Excuse me?" Kumokawa said as she was confused as to what he had just said.

"I said we are now assigned to find Shundou Toshizou for his attempted killing of a Touma Kamijou"

"Yes I know that but, are you sure that you don't mean for the attempted killing of Shokuhou Misaki AKA Mental Out?"

"I'm telling you what the General Superintendent told me, why do you seem so distracted today?"

"No reason my apologies it must have been the connection, I'll begin my research on finding Shundou Toshizou right away."

_'Kamijou what have you gotten yourself into, having someone like him start taking a personal interest in you is never a good thing, Nevertheless I will find Shundou Toshizou and make him pay for what he had done to you'._

* * *

**In a certain Hospital**

After getting Shokuhou to stop hugging him, which was hard to do when Touma was so heavily injured he finally asked her.

"So you never did answer my question. What's your name."

Misaki smiled and breathed a breath of relief as this was her chance to make a good first impression.

"I am the great Shokuhou Misaki"

"Okay then" _This kid is weird_

"Let me start off with saying that I go to Tokiwadai middle school"

"I can see that much" Touma said while pointing to Shokuhou's outfit.

"Ahh. Right" Misaki said as she blushed she had completely forgotten she was still wearing her uniform.

"Okay well like I said my name is Kamijou Touma and I'm about to be a high schooler in a few months, though since you said you knew me you probably knew that much already, huh?"

"Actually your already a High schooler," Misaki said as she pulled out her phone and showed Touma the date and time.

"Oh, your right…...AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"What the hell is this! When I went to sleep it was July, what the hell happened!" Touma screamed as he panicked about all the time he had just lost.

"Quite a lot actually."

"Yeah, no kidding. Wait if I'm in high school which one did I get into?"

This made a small vein pop inside Misaki's head " I believe you were accepted into a certain high school."

"Really that's amazing, that's the school where my senpai attends," Touma said as he beamed excitement.

"Wait a minute how did I pass the entrance exams?"

"Oh you told me that the only subject that you struggled in was with personal realities, so I helped tutor you."

"I accepted help from a kid, Jeez how far did this Kamijou fall."

"What's that supposed to mean!?" Misaki said a little offended.

"No offense, it's just I find it hard to believe that you were my first choice in asking for help."

This made Misaki speechless as it was true that she was his second choice, and she was the one who offered to do it in the first place.

"Never mind that now," Misaki said.

"What do mean never mind that now I'm kinda panicking, I barely passed every subject last year, and I was planning on studying over the summer to pass this year!"

"Wait, what do you mean you barely passed?"

"Well this just goes to show how good of friends we were, I didn't tell you that I almost failed every subject?"

"Of course not! If you did then I obviously wouldn't have spent just one day tutoring you!"

"By the way how did I meet you anyway, all you said is that we were friends so does that mean we met over summer break?"

"Yes actually you found me in the forest and saved my life and after that, we just started hanging out," Misaki said while omitting some truth as to not overwhelm Touma.

"Okay I guess that makes sense, but it's hard to call someone my friend if I barely know anything about you know"

"I completely understand, as I said before my name is Shokuhou Misaki, and I am the leader of the largest clique in Tokiwadai middle school my friends call me Queen"

"Queen?"

"Yes and before you say anything no it is nothing like a gang or the mob"

"I wasn't going to say that!" _Can she read my mind or something?_

"Yeah, of course, you wouldn't," Misaki said with an unconvinced look on her face.

"So wait, this clique, you make everyone who's in it call you Queen."

"Well, of course, it is one of the requirements to join my clique, it's like a form of respect you see."

"Yeah I think I'm starting to get a pretty good idea of what you're saying"

"You do?"

"Yeah and I've got to say I never pegged you as a cult leader Shokuhou," Touma said as he looked Shokuhou dead in the eyes.

"…."

"What did you say!?" Misaki cried out.

"Well I'm sorry to say this but, this Kamijou isn't drinking the Kool-Aid 'Queen'" Touma said while teasing Shokuhou.

Misaki then began laughing, which surprised Touma the most as he would've expected her to scream at him or furiously deny that accusation.

Could it be that he was actually right?

Touma then started to slowly move away from Shokuhou.

"I'm sorry it's just that I didn't think you could catch me off guard with that again," Misaki said while holding her sides.

"Again? Did we have this conversation already?"

"In a way, yes but instead of cult you called my clique a mob"

"Oh okay… ...it's not though right?"

"Rest assured my Prince it's nothing of the sorts"

"Prince?"

"Yes I would call you my Prince and you would call me your Queen" Misaki was lying, but she wanted to see how far this would go.

"Okay….WHAT THE HELL DID I DO THIS SUMMER!?" Touma said as he began freaking out completely. He never even remembered raising any flags with her before.

"Yes we did all sorts of things together you even made me a very important promise you know," Misaki said as she winked at him. She was now getting payback for all the times when Touma teased her in the past.

"OH GOD!" Touma was having a full-blown panic attack.

When Misaki saw him on the verge of mentally collapsing she decided she had enough fun.

"Just Kidding"

Touma then stopped and looked at her, for a while and could swear she looked like a demon.

"Just kidding? What do you mean just kidding!?"

"It means I was joking, why did you want something to have happened between us?" Misaki said while winking at Touma.

Touma simply sighed in relief.

"For a second there I thought you were serious, I thought I was gonna end up on a list no boy wants to find themselves on, but I guess I probably should have seen that coming"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that your not my type."

Misaki knew exactly where Touma was taking this, and she could already feel the vein pop in her head.

"Let's just say you should give up and try again later"

"Give me time, and I am sure I will have all the curves you could ask for, I am still a chrysalis after all" _It's fun to be the one teasing him._

"What the hell is that suppose to mean!?"

"It means that I'll be here until I can keep the promise that I made to you."

"What promise?"

"It was the promise the two of us made the day when you lost your memories."

"Now that you mention it, how did I lose my memories?"

Misaki stopped for a second to take a deep breath.

"You saved my life again yesterday it was all my fault and because of that you almost died…... You lost so much blood. I... I used my power on you and because of that I…. I-".

Touma stopped her.

"It's alright I forgive you."

"But why? You said so yourself you don't even remember me, for all you know I could be lying to you. " Misaki said with tears beginning to form in her eyes

"Your right I don't remember you at all, nothing you said jogged up anything inside my head, but still I know you're a good person".

"How could you possibly know that?"

"I don't really know how to explain it, it's just a feeling I'm getting from in here," Touma said while pointing at his heart.

"You really are a fool you know that?" Misaki said while hugging Touma again.

"Hey, by the way, do you know if I still live in my dorm, knowing my luck it probably burned down and I'm stuck squatting at Tsuchimikado's place.

"Actually I have good news on that part your dorm got bigger."

"What do you mean?"

"You'll see~"

* * *

**June 17**

Months passed since Touma had lost the memories of that fateful summer break, but he Kamijou didn't let that slow him down he trekked through the rest of the year mostly uneventfully. Shokuhou would pop in once in a while or should I say almost every other day to hang out. At first, Touma would be glad to hang out with her but as time moved forward he started to notice changes in Shokuhou the type that would develop 30 cm below a person's sight. Sufficed it to say it started to get very awkward between them or for Touma at least. Touma was used to the old Shokuhou teasing but this new one well, it was on a completely different level than he was used to.

Eventually, though she managed to finally get Touma to go out with her, Touma felt undeserving of such affection from someone like her, I mean he doesn't even remember saving her and all she does is praise him to high heavens. It was a little overwhelming, to say the least. But as the semester was finally coming to an end he was finally gonna be free to do whatever he wanted, this however did not go undeserved as he had to study extra hard with both his new teacher Komoe (who looked like she was an actual child) and Shokuhou, though he had some hiccups along the way namely him having to help someone and then show up late to an exam only to get points taken off, this was among the most popular of his tendencies.

But none of that mattered since tomorrow he had another exam in which he knew for a fact that he could pass all he need was a good night rest, and he would be able to pass without any trouble. What could go wrong?

However unknown to Touma, his whole life was about to change At this moment.

As Touma was walking through the streets making his way back to his dorm for a good night's rest he saw a certain short brown haired girl being surrounded by a bunch of delinquents as people just passed by. Touma didn't think badly of the people who passed by though, they just didn't want to get involved. So Touma decided he was going to play the '**_Pretend to know you and escape undetected strategy_**'. The play was simple really, just head inside of the crowd of delinquents and pretend you were looking for her and then leave. It usually worked great, the entire plan would happen so fast that the delinquents wouldn't know how to react plus no one would have to get hurt, or at least that was the plan anyway.

"There you are! You shouldn't wander off like that. Thanks for looking out for her. Coming through!" Touma said as he pulled the hand of the short brown haired through the crowd.

"Who are you and why are you touching me?" The short brown girl snapped at him.

These words stopped Touma in his tracks and caused him to become quite pale.

"Shhh, you're ruining my plan. Play along." Touma whispered to the girl only to have her snap back at him again.

"Why should I bother!"

At this point, all the delinquents had figured out Touma's plan and surrounded him.

"You gotta lot of nerve, you looking for trouble!?" One of the delinquents spat out.

At this point Touma had one last card to play it was **_'Get everyone to chase me until they get tired and give up'_** (Touma was never good at naming his plans) it was simple he just had to insult the entire group of delinquents enough to get them to forget about the girl and focus on him and lead them all away from the girl.

"Yeah I am, all of you should be ashamed at yourself ganging up on her like this. Take a look at her, she's just a kid, sure she might look well-bred but she's hardly what anyone would call mature!" Touma declared.

As some delinquents started to close in on Touma for this, some other delinquents could swear that they heard the sound of sparks.

Touma then decided he had to take it even farther to get all of them all to chase him, so he said.

"I mean look at her she hasn't even got out of the wearing shorts phase yet!"

At this point, even Touma could hear the electricity sparking, and then he saw that very same short brown haired girl start to shoot out lighting.

"SCREW YOU!"

***BIRI BIRI!***

A giant hailstorm of electrical sparks flooded the streets they were on engulfing all the nearby delinquents but Touma out of instinct took cover behind his right hand to negate the upcoming onslaught.

***Shatter!***

When it finally ended, he saw all the delinquents on the floor twitching uncontrollably and thought that would've been him if he didn't block it on time.

"What the hell was that! Who the hell are you!" Touma shouted. Only to have the short brown haired girl look at him like he was supposed to be dead.

"I should be asking you the same question!" The girl said while pointing accusatory style at Touma.

"Why'd you attack me, I was only trying to help!"

"I never asked you to!" The girl said as she proceeded to fire another bolt of electricity at Touma

Touma quickly used his right hand to block and-

***Shatter***

The bolt then disappeared.

"Who are you? And what kind of power is that!" The girl said as she began to close in on Touma.

Touma not wanting to cause any trouble simply answered to what he viewed as honestly.

"I don't know if it even is a power. The SYSTEM scans show me as a level zero".

The girl was suddenly in shock at hearing those words, and he could hear her mumble.

"Level 0 that's not possible."

Touma not being a fool took this opportunity to book it out of there and not look back, there was no way he in hell he was going to stand there and explain his powers to that person. But as soon as Touma started running, so did that same short brown haired girl start chasing him.

"Get back here!"

"Such Misfortune!"

Touma did not get a good night's rest. **Such misfortune.**


	7. Chapter 7 Same Misfortune

**Now that the Misaki Golden Day's arc has come to a close Welcome to the "Start of Summer Arc" or SOS I hope you enjoy. I would also like to thank everyone who left sa review it really helps me learn as a writer.**

**Whwsms- Kumokawa Seria: "Omae Wa Mou Shindeiru." Shundou Toshizou: "Nani? Indeed. **

**BlueJack22- Wish you well on your Delta Force series. Feel free to send me any crazy Delta Force plans you think that they might come up with in the future.**

**Savior555- Thank you and don't worry she has a role to play in this story.**

**Fortitude501- Thank you**

**Nguyen Thanh Long-Last time on a certain scientific counter.**

**IllusionBreaker- Thank you**

**Graeskog- Thank you for the advice it was my first time writing a fight scene so I was just trying to get all the ideas on the paper but that's a good idea thanks. Don't worry the story will start to get more involved with Touma's counter ability as well as it's going to start diverging from the main cannon.**

**Guest: Only time will tell.**

**Guest 0: Yeah when she was first introduced in a magical index I thought she was a crazy tsundere but after I watched Railgun S she didn't seem so bad.**

**Same Misfortune**

**July 17**

It has been a full month since Touma had met Zapper (the girl with short brown hair) and ever since that day his life had been a nightmare. Because of her, he overslept for the test which snowballed into the giant mess he faces today. He failed this year so badly that he would have to take supplementary classes just to pass the year which to put it lightly did not sit right with Misaki. In fact, ever since that day, he's been ducking Misaki as to not get her involved with Zapper. He knew her well enough to know if the two of them ever met things will not end well for anybody, plus he did not want either of them to get hurt he could tell Zapper wasn't a bad person. A little _'eccentric'_ yes, but he could say the same thing about Misaki.

After yesterday, however, things got very, very complicated to say the least. On one of the last days of his semester a miracle happened, his teacher Komoe (one of the seven wonders of a certain High School) told him that he didn't have to take supplementary lessons after all. At first, he jumped for joy at this revelation like anybody would, but then he looked at the other members of the Delta Force who had not passed, and they both gave him a look like this was nothing to be surprised about. Touma then noticed that his teachers eyes had stars in them. He didn't know that much about Misaki's ability but, some things he did know was that whenever she controlled someone they would have stars in their eyes. This did not sit well with him as he had always told Misaki to respect people's free will and not control them except in emergencies. This is why he asked Misaki to meet him at his dorm in the first place.

However, Misaki seemed to interpret Touma's message a little differently than he had intended which lead to some…. Confusion to say the least.

"My Prince!" Misaki announces as she opens the door to Touma's apartment.

"Hey, Shokuhou I wanted to talk to you about something."

The brightness from Shokuhou face immediately dimmed as she already knew that this was not what she was hoping for from that single word 'Shokuhou'. It wasn't like it was a bad word or anything it was just something he called her when he was upset.

"... Yes my Prince what can I do for you?"

"Yeah that's what I wanted to talk to you about, what you've done for me"

"Whatever do you mean?"

"Cut it out Shokuhou, I already know that you used your powers on my Teacher to let me pass."

"Oh is that what all the fuss is about you don't need to thank…"

"Change it back."

"Excuse me?"

"I said change it back Shokuhou, you know it's wrong."

Shokuhou was taken aback by this why would her Prince want to go to supplementary school.

"What. No! What's wrong is that you had to take supplementary classes in the first place it wasn't your-"

"Yes it was Shokuhou it was my fault that I failed and I have to face the consequences."

"Your wrong! You didn't do anything wrong it was those low lives from Deadlock who took away your memory and ruined everything!"

"Look Shokuhou I get it. It's easy to blame other people for my problems but at the end of the day it was still my responsibility, and…."

"Then what about me huh. This was supposed to be our summer break" Misaki said with tears forming in her eyes.

_'That's what this is about'_ Touma thought to himself.

Touma then held onto Misaki's shoulders "Look Misaki it's not that I don't want to spend time with you, it's just that using your powers like that isn't right. Sometimes the best thing to do is to just face the consequences even if it seems unfair, besides it won't be like I won't spend any time with you at all." Touma said as he hugged Misaki.

A small smile formed on Misaki's face. "Alright fine, only if you promise we will still have our summer adventure."

"No problem, anything for my golden girl"

Misaki immediately started to blush it was only just recently that he started using that as her pet name but still it felt amazing every time she heard it.

"By the way Touma what's that," Misaki said while pointing to a large piece of cardboard on the other side of the room it looked like it had a lot of writing on it.

"That oh that...it's just something" he then averted his eyes from her gaze.

Misaki then looked at Touma and puffed her cheeks "It's not another one of your Delta Forces plans is it?"

"No, I swear! I stopped going on those when we started to…. You know" Touma said while slightly blushing.

"Oh," Misaki said while also blushing.

"Then what is it?'

"It's my master plan on how to stop this jerk who keeps on messing with me"

"Someone's bullying you. Tell me who it is now." Misaki said while looking Touma sternly in the face.

'_And this is why Misaki should never learn about Zapper. Ever.'_

"No ones bullying me, besides even if they were I could handle them on my own. No this is about the jerk who keeps on taking on my Coffee".

"Coffee?"

"Yeah, whenever I go out to buy my favorite brand of coffee someone always buys the entire container."

"What?"

"Okay let me explain" He then ran to the other side of his dorm to present his plan to Misaki.

"Okay, first my favorite brand of Coffee is black with no sugar which is rare enough since more people prefer lattes or espresso nowadays so the store rarely gets any shipments of my favorite brand, to begin with, in fact, they only get one crate which is only 12 bottles for every week. This wasn't a problem for me since I would be the only person to buy it right."

"Right"

"So a couple of weeks ago I went to go buy my coffee, but the guy at the register said they were out. I didn't mind since I knew that they would get another shipment in the next day, so I left and didn't think twice about it. Come the next day and I head over there again but, the guy said they were out. I asked him if the shipment was late, and he said that someone had already bought them all."

Misaki didn't know what to say, so she simply waited for Touma to continue to explain.

"So after this, I decided to wait a week, so I could buy my coffee again only this time I would show up early to buy some and it all went smoothly except I realized that I was the only one buying them, the other person stopped or so I thought. After the pack was done (which took about a week) I asked the guy at the counter why they didn't they put out another one, and he said that the same guy already bought them. He said he didn't want anything that was already opened, so he just waited until the new pack arrived and just bought it like that."

"So how does this all tie back to your beautiful mind style board there?" Misaki said while still pointing at the piece of cardboard.

"I'm getting to that, so after all was said and done I realized that this guy was messing with me trying to keep this poor Kamijou from getting his coffee, so I decided to make a plan on how to beat this guy. First I would have to stop drinking my coffee for two weeks (which was a challenge in and of itself), Next, I would begin to buy packs at a time just like the other person. After that, the other person is going to get so discouraged he would give up and decide to go buy coffee at another store".

"Wait a minute, you're saying you could've bought this at another store this whole entire time"

"Yeah"

"Then why are you wasting your time on something like this instead of going to another store and buying your coffee from there?"

"Principle"

"Principle?"

"Yeah, why should I have to go out of my way and go to another store just because this person suddenly decided they wanted to try my favorite brand of coffee. Huh. Besides, that's the only store where the coffee's always on sale which allows me to be able to afford it in the first place!"

Misaki simply picked up the piece of cardboard and saw all the documents attached to it. It had a hand-drawn calculation report on how much each pack of coffee would cost which included taxes along with an expense report sheet of how much capital Touma had to fund his plan, on the other document it had a scientific report on consumer interests and it highlighted how if they feel discouraged after a certain amount of attempts then they would simply take their business elsewhere all.

After looking over at all the work Touma had put into this a Dark Aura began to surround Misaki.

"Tell me Touma, what did you spend more time on"

"Huh?"

"Making this ridiculous plan for your morning coffee or actually studying?"

Touma immediately sensed the danger and began to back up.

"Well…. You see…. Um".

"That's what I thought. Why don't we have a nice long chat about priorities TOUMA"

"Such misfortune"

* * *

**1 Lecture Later**

After Touma finished getting his verbal beat down from Misaki he started to make his way down to an ATM to get the capital that he would need in order to enact his plan against his coffee thief. But when he finally made to the ATM and put his bank card inside it read that he had put in the incorrect pin which Touma couldn't believe. Then he looked down at the number pad and realized that the numbers were invented, so he kept on pressing the wrong buttons over and over again. This eventually led to the ATM refusing to spit his card back out.

"Such Misfortune!" Unknown to Touma this little outburst of him had caught the attention of an unsavory guest.

"Hey there."

Touma slowly turned around to realize that his worst fears have actually come to pass it was zapper. With an amused look on her face.

"Uh man!"

The girls face turned quickly to that annoyed.

"Everyday you try to dodge the issue, but not Today, Today we settle this" As she starts lightly sparkling.

"Oh come on, first I get chewed out and lose my bank card and now this is the universe just trying to mess with me!" Touma rants as he starts holding his right hand to his head.

"PAY ATTENTION TO ME WILL YOU!?" Zapper shouts as she punches the ATM with an electrically charged punch.

Touma then looks down at the ATM and realizes his prayers have been heard as it spits out his bank card.

"THANK YOU! Seriously knowing you was a nightmare but it was all worth it" Touma said while shaking Zappers hand.

"My name is Mikoto Misaka!"

"Yeah whatever you say Zapper." Just then Touma heard the sound of the ATM alarm system going off.

"You know I probably should've seen this coming" Touma said while dragging zapper by the wrist trying to make his escape. However, after running with her for about a block he realized that he should probably let go of her and run away from her too. This didn't last too long, however, since he immediately got cornered at the riverbank.

"Oh come on"

"Stop your whining and let's fight already!"

"Why!? You lose every time we do, at this point I'm getting the feeling you're a glutton for punishment"

"Shut up! You never actually hit me before so that makes it a tie!"

"What kind of messed up logic is that! When will this end!"

"Well obviously…. When I win of course." Misaka said while fixing her hair.

Touma took a minute to collect his thoughts and then decided on the best course of action.

"Okay, what about this instead," Touma says while presenting his left hand.

"What?"

"If I can fire whatever lighting you shoot at me back at you stronger than I win, and we put all of this behind us. Okay."

"What are you talking about?"

"Is it a deal?" _Please god make her take the deal_

"Fine then let's see how strong you really are!" Misaka said while emanating electricity from her entire body than focusing all of it into her hand firing a giant electrical spear at Touma's left hand.

***REVERB***

The familiar sound of something reverbing could be heard when the giant electrical spear shot back at Zapper bigger than it was originally. Lucky for her Touma already calculated the trajectory of the counter and aimed it so that it wouldn't touch her.

***BOOOM!***

Touma's face had just become as pale as a ghost when he realized that he didn't actually know where he aimed at, only knowing that it wouldn't hit zapper instead he was horrified when he realized he had just stuck a giant wind turbine overloading it causing it to break.

"..."

"..."

"AHH! SUCH MISFORTUNE!"

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!"

The two then found themselves running away from the scene of the crime as neither of them wanted to explain to Anti Skill that because of their fighting one of the Wind Turbines had been destroyed. After a marathon of running later, the two found themselves free of the scene of the crime and looked at each other. At first, Zapper looked at Touma like a deer would look at a car in the headlights. So Touma decided to take this chance and slowly back away from the very volatile girl, only for her to snap out of it at the last minute.

***Boom***

"Where do you think you're going!" Misaka snaps as she throws a lighting spear at the ground halting Touma's escape.

"Well, home I guess," Touma said while feigning ignorance in hopes of getting out of this situation unharmed.

"I mean what the hell did you just do back there!?"

"Oh that… Nothing" he then averted his gaze from zapper.

At this moment Misaka decided to unleash another blast of electricity at Touma only to have him block it with his right hand.

***Shatter***

The sound of glass breaking could be heard along with the lightning being erased.

"What the hell was that for!" Touma shouted.

"That's for taking it easy on me!"

"Taking it easy, what did you want me to wail on you or something!"

"I wanted to be taken seriously!"

"Well sorry, I'm not some cold-hearted person who can beat on some middle schooler just because they said it was okay!"

Misaka then started to emanate electricity again as some iron sand began to form in clouds around her. The cloud eventually became more and more condensed until it took the form of a sword with her pointing it directly at Touma.

"Wait, no weapons!" Touma screamed as he raised his hands in the air.

Just then Misaka lunged forward at Touma holding the iron sand sword to his face.

"Still think I'm just some middle schooler," Misaka said while looking Touma dead in the eyes.

At first, Touma didn't know how to respond but then an idea came to Touma's mind.

_Maybe, Imagine breaker could work on this. It's worth a shot._

Touma then motioned his right hand towards the iron sand sword

***Shatter***

immediately all the iron sand started to fall apart.

_'It broke apart at his touch. Guess I failed again however, I expected that'_ Misaka thought to herself as she grabbed Touma's right hand ready to send electricity directly into him. However, nothing happened.

'_What the hell the current isn't even moving...crap it's his move now'_

Touma then looked down and saw Zapper was holding onto his hand. "So..."

Misaka instantly flinched, she knew that he was bigger than her, and he could easily hurt her.

"AGH…. I am defeated" Touma proclaimed as he gave the performance of a lifetime while falling to the floor.

At first, there was silence. Touma actually thought that he had pulled it off, However, Touma was never that fortunate as this illusion was quickly shattered as a torrent of swears mixed with electrical Volts were launched at him.

"What! You won isn't this what you wanted!"

"NOOO! This was not what I wanted!"

"Ah come on first you go back on your promise and now this"

"I'm gonna…. Wait what promise?"

Touma quickly found a way out of this situation that didn't involve him fighting and quickly pounced on it.

"Yeah you promised me that if I shot your electricity back stronger than you would leave me alone"

"Well, I-"

"Are you saying that I didn't shoot your electricity back stronger. I mean the bolt you threw at me was strong and everything but it didn't seem anywhere strong enough to bring down a wind turbine, don't you think" Touma said mockingly towards Zapper.

At this sudden turn of events, Misaka started to turn red out of embarrassment.

"Fine!"

"Really!?" Touma said beaming with joy.

"Yeah but next time you won't be so lucky," Misaka said while turning to walk back to her dorms.

"Wait next time I thought this nightmare was finally over with!"

"No, if I remember correctly I said that I would put everything behind us, and I am for today you never specified that it would be forever, remember?" Misaka said while looking back at Touma with a smug look of a cat on her face. "Although the next time we meet I'm gonna go all out and use my railgun on you."

"Railgun?"

"Yep have fun with that thought. Bye" She then walked away not looking back, not even once.

"Why do I feel like I just got signed up for a death parade"

"Such Misfortune!"

* * *

**At a certain Dinner**.

After Misaki was finished giving Touma a lesson on his priorities she felt famished, so she decided to go into a diner on the way back to her dorms in order to get a bite to eat what did one of the most prestigious people in all academy city eat you may ask.

"Sorry about the wait. There is your cheeseburger, French fries, seven veggie salad, and orange juice. Is onion dressing okay?"

"Yes, and Thank you"

"We will prepare a mini custard pudding pie for your dessert."

"Please do."

She smiled and looked down at the tray on the counter. And begun to wrap her cheeseburger in a large napkin to begin the process of eating it only to be stopped when she noticed something very strange. There was no one else here.

Normally Misaki would use her Mental Our ability to clear out any restaurant (much to the dismay of her prince) to eat in peace, however, she did not have to this time the restaurant was already empty. As she scanned the room she could not find another person in sight until she felt a small tap on her shoulder.

"Long time no see brat," Kumokawa said while leaning in close to Misaki's ear.

"Oh. I should have known it was you, old hag" Misaki said with disdain in her voice.

"What, no how's it been?"

"Truly I hoped that you would've succumbed to old age and would have left me and my prince alone but, alas some miracles are just not meant to be."

"Well while you were off playing house with my kohai I was actually doing something of worth."

"Really now and what pray tell might that be?"

"Dealing with Deadlock," Kumokawa said in a straight face.

This immediately shook Misaki to her very core, she hated Deadlock with every fiber of her being, she had to force herself not to go after the remnants of them less she goes too far.

"What do you mean?"

"Shundou Toshizou is dead"

Misaki's blood instantly froze at this revelation. She had already figured out that he was responsible for funding Deadlock, but she didn't know that he was dead.

"How?"

"He flew to fast and close to the sun and ended up crashing and burning," Kumokawa said.

"So it's over," Misaki said. While Misaki hated Shundou Toshizou for what he put her and her Prince though she did not feel alright learning that he was killed.

"Don't look too sad, it was his fault for targeting Kamijou"

"What did you say!?"

"Oh yeah, you didn't know did you. That's fine that's part of the reason I showed back up".

"What are you talking about wasn't Deadlock after me!" Misaki shouted as she stood up from her seat.

"Yes and No. Deadlock the organization was targeting you which is why they weren't killed, however, the reason Shundou Toshizou was killed was that he was targeting Kamijou."

"But why?"

"I can't tell you everything now can I. However I will tell you enough to keep Kamijou safe until I take him back.

"Take him back! He's my Boyfriend!"

"For now." Kumokawa calmly stated.

"Anyway back on topic apparently our Kamijou has a plethora of secrets surrounding him some of which I wasn't even able to find out if they existed or not" Kumokawa stated.

"Like what?"

"Well, first and foremost his left hand for example. Like did you know that he could reproduce an AIM field perfectly when he comes in contact with one?"

This immediately caught Misaki off guard while she knew that Touma's left hand could in a layman's terms counter any esper ability thrown at it she did not know that it could actually copy an AIM field.

"That's impossible AIM fields are unique for every individual"

"That's what I thought at first too but then when I got the data it told a very different story. Apparently, he's been getting into a lot of fights with a certain high-level esper and when we finally caught him using his left hand's power on one of those attacks our suspicions were proved to be correct. He could perfectly replicate another espers AIM field perfectly down to the last detail, it was like the system was reading double. This news is what leads me here to you today."

"Which is?"

"It was today that we got the confirmation that Kamijou Touma is now no longer a level 0 but rather a Gemstone."

"What! That doesn't make any sense, Touma went through the power curriculum program he can't be a Gemstone"

"Not anymore. All records of him ever going through the power curriculum have been mysteriously misplaced. That's why I'm here to warn you that now more than ever Touma is at risk. He used to be able to get away from all of his problems by stating he was a level 0 but, now he been labeled a Gemstone people from all over the Darkside of Academy city want a piece of him. Gemstones are a rare enough commodity as it is you know".

"But why now why would they choose now of all the times to change his ranking," Misaki said with her face becoming paler.

"I wouldn't worry about it too much most of the major threats have already been or are being neutralized as we speak. Besides the whole Gemstone thing is just on paper and is reflected as such. In actuality, he is still considered a level 0 since he's unable to generate an AIM field by himself so his school life will hardly change at all."

"Then why did they-"

"To quell people's questions on how he is able to do what he does. Ignorance leads to fear, brat so to quell their ignorance the General Superintendent spun this story".

"The General Superintendent," Misaki said having her eyes shoot wide open.

"Yep and with that, I'm off any questions or concerns?"

"Yeah I got a few"

"I have time for two"

"Okay, first what is the name for Touma's 'Gemstone' Ability?"

"Oh that's a work in progress, for now, it's just listed as unknown just like Sogiita Gunha but I'm sure that they'll take any name thrown at them, so just ask Kamijou what he'd like to name it."

"Okay then, how about why did it take academy city so long to track down Shundou Toshizou surely he couldn't have been that hard to find"

"You're getting smarter brat, in actuality, we found Shundou Toshizou the moment both you and Kamijou made it to the hospital, it only took us so long because the higher-ups were more interested in what he could've been working on which would've got him interested in Kamijou. However, since his latest research showed some signs of mental instability he was deemed a risk and subsequently taken care of"

"What was he researching?"

"That's actually another question but, since you have been dutifully taking care of my dear kohai I'll tell you. Killer whales."

"Killer whales?"

"Yeah like I said he had a few screws loose"

As Kumokawa was beginning to walk out of the restaurant she turned around and looked at Misaki who was still standing.

"By the way, I should mention, that since the whole with Shundou Toshizou ordeal is over and done with I will be taking a much bigger role of Kamijou's life. After all, I'm now in charge of overseeing all the Gemstones in academy city after all. Bye now' Kumokawa said as she closed the door behind her.

_'That Wesley old hag how dare she!'_

"Your mini custard pudding pie is ready!"

"NOT NOW!" Misaki screamed as she pointed and clicked her remote at the innocent chef.

It took a moment for Misaki to process what she had just done. And she could already hear her prince chastise her for this. So Misaki calmly ate all of her food and gave the chef a 75% tip.

"Thank you so much."

"No really it's nothing," Misaki said while not looking the chef in the eyes.

As she began to exit the restaurant she began reflecting on what had just transpired. Her prince had become a Gemstone and now more than ever in the limelight which he had always hated. She began to look up at the sky and remember that promise she made to herself that summer ago that she would protect his light no matter what.

_'So far I don't really feel like I protected him as much as he protects everyone else including me and now he's being targeted by the dark side of academy city, hell even that old hag has done more for him than I ever have... No I refuse to let his one miracle turn out like this I won't let anyone have him, I'll protect him no matter.'_

* * *

**July 18**

**7:30 AM**

Once Touma woke up from his deep peaceful slumber from yesterday's fiasco of a day he realizes that today is the day that he has to enact his plan to get his coffee back from whoever this jerk might be, so he quickly does his morning of eating breakfast and taking a shower and getting changed and runs out the door in a full sprint to make it to the store. When he arrives however he is met with the unfortunate news that due to a delay caused by a wind turbine breaking down that the shipment of black coffee won't be arriving until later that day, but he couldn't be sure exactly about the time. Such misfortune. Depressed that his plans did not work out the way he thought it would due to his actions from yesterday he holds his head down in a mix between ashamed and depressed and walks out of the store. However unknown to him he holds the door open for a certain white-haired boy who was also looking for the black coffee. As Touma walks out of the store he could hear screaming along with some swears coming from someone inside.

"I guess he's not a morning person," Touma said in a mumble to himself as he makes the walk of shame to school.

When Touma finally arrives at school he reveals to the Delta Force that he will be attending Supplementary lessons over the summer break much to the amusement of the other members.

"Really, Kami what did you do to get her so pissed at you?" Tsuchimikado teased.

"Nothing, I did it out of principle"

Both members of the Delta Force looked at each other and then turned to Touma and uttered the same word.

"Idiot!"

"What the hell do either of you guys know! You both failed just as hard as I did!"

"True, but we would never be dumb enough to choose to go to supplementary classes than spend time with our girlfriend." Tsuchimikado pointed out.

"Or maybe Kami has other reasons for deciding to take supplementary classes," Aogami says while turning to their homeroom teacher Komoe.

"What the hell are you guys talking about!"

"You know Aogami brings up a good point, I mean you two started dating before she evolved into the babe she is now maybe Kami here has a thing for lolis" Tsuchimikado stated.

"She's not a Pokemon!" Touma shouted, but then he remembered that the two of them only started dating after she started to develop, but if what they were saying was true then maybe….

"Hell no! It's the principle!" Touma Shouted again.

"What the hell does that even mean?" Aogami asked.

"It means that if I conceded on this than I would have to concede on everything else she does, I'd rather go to supplementary classes than have this loom over my head," Touma explained.

"Oh, so you're saying that you're just trying to make a power play on her. I get it" Tsuchimikado said with a sly grin on his face.

"No that's not what I'm-"

"Well, as long as they're still an item the Kami Disease has stopped spreading or at least slowed down that's all that matters" Aogami commented.

"What are you talking about?"

Unknown to Touma when Misaki paid a visit to his class earlier that school year to announce that she was his girlfriend and tell everybody who she was, he only interpreted that she was excited that they were finally in a relationship, however its true intentions were anything but that, it was more or less like an implicit threat to everyone else in the class especially towards the girls in the class of what would happen if they tried anything. Misaki had far too much class to overtly threaten anyone.

"Nothing you poor blind Bastard" Aogami replied.

"Huh?" suddenly a small chill ran down the spine of every student in the classroom's spine, from them remembering what happened that day.

"On another note, Kami have you heard about the recent graviton bombing?" Tsuchimikado said.

"Huh. No what's that?"

"Apparently some guys have been going around bombing places using his esper ability"

"That's terrible. You kids be careful now." Komoe sensei said as she chimed in.

"Yeah I know and apparently Judgment doesn't have any leads either," Aogami said.

"Well that's not entirely true, apparently word on the grapevine is that the guy has been hiding his bombs in stuffed animals," Tsuchimikado said while fixing his sunglasses.

"Stuffed animals?" Touma said while imagining a stuffed bear holding a stick of dynamite.

"Yep"

"Well that just goes to show you, just because something looks cute and adorable on the outside doesn't mean it's not dangerous on the inside" Aogami commented.

The whole class than in unsine had the same thought.

_'You can say that again'_

* * *

Later during the school-day Touma couldn't get Zappers threat out of his head.

_'Next time we meet I'm gonna go all out and use my railgun on you'_

_'What's a Railgun?'_ Touma thought to himself.

Touma then decided that now would be a good a chance of any to ask his teacher what a railgun was. So he raised his hand to the surprise of everyone especially Miss Komoe since Touma had almost never raised his hand during class unless it was to get to the bathroom.

"Yes Kamijou-chan"

"Yeah, I have a question. What's a Railgun?"

The whole class then turned to Touma in confusion as they had no idea why he would ask that.

"Um okay but, you do realize that we're currently studying calculus right now, correct?" Komoe said with a confused look on her face.

"Yeah of course" In actuality, Touma had spaced off and didn't even realize this until she mentioned it to him.

Komoe then began the long-drawn-out explanation about the science behind a railgun.

"Oh, by the way, Kamijou-san did you know that there is an esper in academy city who can create a railgun using only her esper ability."

"Really I wonder who that could be" Touma then had an image of Zapper pop into his mind with a smug look on her face.

"Yes, the third-ranked level 5 Mikoto Misaka, originally she was a level 1 but through hard work, she was able to become who she is today, you should all take that as some inspiration, anybody can become a higher level no matter your circumstances," Komoe said cheerfully to the class.

"Yeah but I'm guessing that doesn't apply to me. Hey sensei do you happen to know how fast her railguns goes and what would happen if I don't know, someone were to touch it mid-flight"

Komoe then turned over to Touma with concern in her eyes but, still answered.

"Well from what I know her railgun can move upwards of Mach 3 and up, and if someone was unfortunate enough to touch her railgun mid-flight then whatever they touched it with would no longer be a part of them, even something as small as an arcade token would have enough force to destroy an entire building. Why do you ask?"

"No reason" Touma's entire face became pale as he put his head down on his desk and accepted his fate.

* * *

Once class was over Touma began to make his way back to the store which had previously said that they had not received the shipment of coffee in order to beat however was messing with him however he had very little hope that the coffee was still there. On his way there, however, he ran across a little girl who couldn't be more than 12 years old who had blonde hair tied in two pigtails being harassed by some unsavory individuals. So as perusal Touma decided to step in and help the little girl much to the surprise of everyone.

"Who the hell are you?"

"Look can you pervs just knock it off already I swear people like you are the reason I'm in this mess, to begin with!" Touma shouted.

"What the hell are you even talking about!"

"Nothing just projecting" Touma lamented.

Touma then simply grabbed the wrist of the little girl with his left hand and began to walk away from the people who were harassing her, to begin with. Once they were far enough away Touma let go of the little girl's hand.

"Hey, are you okay?" Touma said while kneeling down to her eye level.

At first, the girl seemed perplexed as though she was seeing something that she did not believe to be real. Upon closer inspection, Touma noticed that her eyes were two different colors, this was one of the first time that Touma ever saw something like this, so he was completely drawn in.

"Wow, I've never seen someone with two different colored eyes before what did they call that again?"

"It's called **Heterochromia iridium** but that's not what this is, I guess you saved me again huh?"

"Uhh, what are you talking about?"

"Huh what do you mean you saved me during last year's summer break, don't you remember?"

"Yeah of course I do" Touma tried to play it off, but he could not for the life of him remember if he had actually met this girl before. During the previous summer he lost a lot of his memories, he had tried to keep it quiet as he didn't want to bring Misaki or any of his friends any pain.

"So how's it been?" Touma asked casually.

The girl simply stared at him with beady eyes and he could sense the anger inside of her.

"How's it been. WHAT DO YOU MEAN HOW'S IT BEEN!?"

_'UH OH'_

"I do you a favor and this how you repay me!?"

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to sound ungrateful or anything honest it's just a lot of stuff been going on in my life and it most of just slipped my mind. Please forgive this poor Kamijou." Touma said as he bowed his head.

The little girl simply looked at him slightly annoyed of what had just transpired.

"Fine. By the way, since you so rudely ended our last meeting before I could analyze the data fully it took me a lot longer than usual to figure out the answer you were looking for".

_'Answer? Did I ask for this little kid's help for something'_

"Uh yeah so what did you find out"

"Well look at you being all casual about it. Let me tell you it wasn't easy trying to figure out what was going on with your left hand but after getting some help from a colleague I Kihara Nayuta was finally able to deduce it".

_'So her name is Nayuta. Wait, my left hand? I asked this kid to help me figure out what was going on with it. Jeez was I just trying to mess with her or something?'_

"Okay, so what did you find out?"

"Well at first I didn't know what to make of your esper ability I mean it made no sense whatsoever, I wouldn't have believed it if I didn't see it with my own ability, but it turns out that you can copy a person's AIM field perfectly no matter how complicated it is."

"Huh, but aren't AIM fields supposed to be unique for everyone just like their personal realities?"

"Exactly that's why I found it so odd. But upon closer inspection whenever you left-hand makes contact with another person's AIM it is able to copy it perfectly. Like right now.

"What are you talking about?"

"Well you can't see it with the naked eye of course but right now your body is emitting my AIM field perfectly, save for your right hand of course although the AIM fields around your entire right arm are weaker than usual."

"Wait you can see AIM fields?"

"Of course that's why I took an interest in this challenge, to begin with."

"Okay, so what else did you manage to figure out"

"Well apart from that very little you didn't exactly give me a lot to work with you know, the only other things I managed to figure out is that whenever you ball your left hand into a fist your entire AIM field disappears like it was never there, to begin with, and over time the AIM field you copied will dissipate like steam"

_'I didn't know that?'_

"Thanks for helping me out I really appreciate it," Touma said while patting her on the head.

The little girl simply blushed for a moment then swatted down Touma's hand.

"Enough of that! It was debt that's all besides, I can't very well surpass all the other level 5s if I can't even solve a simple problem like this."

"Wait you're planning on surpassing all level 5s"

"Yep that's my one and only dream and once I set my mind to something nothing is going to stop me" Nayuta proclaimed while balling her hand into a fist.

"Well good luck with that, but you shouldn't just make that your only life's goal you know."

"What are you talking about?"

"If all you ever do is just drive for that singular dream then what happens once you finally achieve it"

Nayuta stopped in her tracks at that comment, what would she do once she climbed that summit?

"Once you find yourself there on the top in the spotlight you're gonna find yourself all alone with nobody around. You shouldn't just make that your only dream."

_'Dream?'_

"What are you talking about?" Nayuta asked.

"I'm saying if you shouldn't just limit yourself to one dream, that's just an illusion you put on yourself because you're scared that if you dream too much that you'll never be able to accomplish any of them. But you should never stop dreaming just because you're scared, you have so much potential more than I'll ever have that's for sure."

Nayuta simply stood there contemplating what Touma had just said to her. Was she really scared to dream? She always considered herself fearless in her unwavering nature on not giving up on her one dream but the way that he had just said made it seem like she was afraid to try anything else in truth it wasn't her dream, to begin with, it was her family's dream.

"Thanks, I'll take that under advisement Kamijou' Nayuta said while waving Touma off.

"Okay thanks for the help Nayuta see you around"

_'What an odd character'_ Touma thought to himself

Touma then realized that he still had to go and check the store to see if they still had his coffee in stock (he held out little hope) but was quickly stopped as he saw that there was yet another small child this time looking as though she was lost wandering the streets.

_'What was there mass breakout at the elementary school I never heard about!?'_

Touma then quickly shrugged off this notion and quickly rushed over to the small child.

"Hey, kid are you lost?" Touma said in a very calm voice.

"Yes I wanted to go to the mall but I got lost, can you help me?" the little girl said while holding onto Touma's leg and looking at him with eyes that could break any persons will.

"Okay, sure which mall did you want to go to anyway?" Touma said.

"The seventh mist mall I saw on TV that's where all the cool people shop, I wanna be cool too!"

"Okay sure"

_'What's the worst that could happen?'_


	8. Chapter 8 More Misfortune

**Hey, guys, thanks for the support and for reading a Certain Scientific Counter thank you for the comments it really helps me get new ideas for the series. I hope you enjoy.**

**Whwsms- Touma's not actually a Gemstone he was just labeled as one because it was a convenient excuse, Though technically he could be considered a Gemstone as the only real prerequisite for being a Gemstone is that you can produce an AIM field or have abilities that are AIM based, which he can but only through another medium. Also, Seria didn't actually physically kill anyone she was just apart of the team who did. She was never really the front line fighter type. She was just apart of the information gathering team.**

**Emque****\- Thanks, a certain white-haired boy (Accelerator) I wonder who it could be.**

**Awardedall- No problem.**

**Fortitude501- Oh the reason I can update so fast is that I'm always one chapter ahead and I only publish the previous chapter when I'm done with the next. Thank you for the compliment I hope I can keep giving you content that you'll enjoy.**

**Savior555- I hope you enjoy.**

**BlueJack22- You don't know the half of it.**

**MarkGib- All is fair in love and war but Lessar is the type of person who would take that to the next level. **

**Guest: Thank you for your support. And I'll try.**

**The crack shipping guy- I know right.**

**Guest: Touma did not lose all of his memories but he is not telling Misaki the truth about how much he did lose. **

**Ultra Instinct Shaggy- Thank you for the high praise I didn't know that my writing has come to a level where you would have to exert yourself so much to be able to destroy it. Thank you.**

**More Misfortune**

**July 18 **

**5:00 PM**

As Touma entered the Seventh Mist Mall with the little girl he was still thinking about everything that had just happened today. He just found out that he did have an AIM even if it was someone else's, but he couldn't get the feeling that he forgot something important about Nayuta. He felt uneasy not knowing what had actually happened that summer. Misaki did her best to fill in the gaps for Touma but there was only so much that she was actually there for. Touma remembered that she said that he had saved her but from who? As these questions raced through Touma's mind however he did not notice the little girl drag him into a department in the mall, in fact, he didn't even realize that he was in a store.

"What's the matter Onii-chan," the little girl said while tugging on his arm

_'Onii-chan huh, I guess it's alright my cousin calls me that all the time anyway'_

"Yeah everything's fine, I was just thinking that's all"

"About what"

"Uh" suddenly an image of Zapper popped in his mind with that smug look on her face, "girl problems"

"Girl problems?" The little girl then tilted her head in confusion on what he would have meant.

"Anyway what are you looking to buy here"

"OHH! I wanna buy a dress and some shorts"

"Okay that sounds like a plan what kind of shorts are you looking for"

"Brown ones just like Tokiwadai Onee-chan'

"What, you know somebody from Tokiwadai?"

"Yeah, she's nice. She helped me find my bag see!" The girl then presented to Touma her pink colored backpack.

"Well, I'm sure she must be nice." _'Unlike a certain Zapper, I know'_

"Okay I'm gonna go look for some right now!" The little girl exclaimed as she ran through the store like a bat out of hell.

_'Guess she's excited'_

As Touma wandered aimlessly throughout the department store mall he caught a glimpse of a certain brown haired girl stealthy taking a pair of children's pajamas and running off. Touma thinking that this was a brazen attempt at theft, decided to go confront the girl. However, once he followed her to the mirror he quickly realized that it was actually Zapper.

"Oh god, what the hell are you doing?" Touma spat out.

This immediately sent Zapper in a frenzy as she jumped backward and spun around to hide the pajamas behind herself.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE!" Misaka screamed.

"Well I was thinking that somebody was trying to steal those pajamas but, it turns out that you're just too embarrassed to admit to your tastes" Touma replied.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY!"

"Onii-chan! Look!" The little girl shouted.

Suddenly both of them turned around to see the little girl approach them with a pair of brown shorts in hand.

"OH! TOKIWADAI ONEE-CHAN!"

_'You've got to be kidding me. She's the one that she was talking about!'_

"Onii-chan huh? I didn't know you had a sister."

"Good because I don't Zapper. She was just having some trouble finding this mall, so I helped her out." Touma spat out.

After Zapper and the little girl started talking Touma thought he could use this chance to escape but, part of his conscious told him not to leave a small child near an electrical outlet.

"Hey, Idiot. Since your here we can finally settle our...MWA HA HA" Misaka started to say with a dark aura starting to form around her.

While this was going on the little girl interpreted there meeting very differently.

_'Girl Trouble!'_

"Jeez you really do have a one track mind don't you, do you really want to."

"No! Stop fighting!" The little girl said while jumping in the middle of them with small tears in her eyes.

This stunned both Touma and Misaka as the last thing either of them wanted was to see a little girl cry.

"No we weren't fighting," Misaka said while comforting the small innocent child.

"Yeah she's right, honest we were just having a conversation."

"But… she called you an idiot and you called her zapper" the little girl said with tears now becoming ever more prevalent.

"No those were just nicknames we gave each other right," Misaka said turning to Touma.

"Yeah, totally so can you stop crying, please."

"But you were yelling at each other and." the little girl softly said.

"Honestly were good friends right," Touma said looking at Misaka.

"Yeah, in fact, were best friends"

'_Seriously! Laying it on a bit thick don't you think'_

"Really?" The little girl said while wiping away her tears.

"Yeah"

"You should try to get along better" The little girl stated.

"We'll try. For now, I'm gonna go get out of your way. I'll wait for you by the door okay." Touma said while trying to make his escape.

"Aren't you gonna say goodbye to Tokiwadai Onee-chan"

"Oh right… Bye" _'What was her name again' _

"Yeah bye…."_ 'What was his name again?'_

"Misaka-san?" A young girls voice called out from behind them.

_'Guess that answers that question'_

When Touma turned around he saw two middle school girls walking towards them. One was a small girl who sports short black hair and has golden-brown eyes with a headband of flowers on her head while the other girl had blue eyes and long black hair with a small, white flower on the left side of her hair.

"Uiharu, Saten what are you doing here" Misaka muttered out as she began to turn red.

"What are you talking about Misaka you're the one who suggested we shop here, remember," Satan said while tilting her head.

"Judgement Onee-chan!" The little girl screamed while she ran to hug Uiharu.

"Who was that guy who just ran off Misaka?" Uiharu said while pointing at the currently fleeing Touma.

"Don't know just some guy."

"But didn't you say you were best friends," The little girl said while looking at Misaka.

Suddenly Uiharu and Saten both turned to face Misaka.

"Well, you see... I gotta go to the bathroom!" Misaka replied as she made a dash for the bathroom.

Uiharu and Saten then looked at each other.

"You don't think that there..."

"Maybe. We'll have to ask Shirai".

* * *

Once Touma finally made his way to the exit of the seventh mist mall one singular thought came to his mind.

_'For the love of all that is good in the world please don't let the word of what just happened ever come to Misaki'_

Touma then started to catch his breath again until he heard his phone ring. When he went to see who it was the caller ID all but laughed in his face.

'Golden Girl'.

_'At this point, I just think you like watching me suffer!'_

Touma then went to answer his phone "Hey Misaki" _'Please let this be about something else'_

"Touma…. We need to talk".

_'Oh God, she Knows!'_

"Look Misaki I swear it wasn't what it looked like."

"Huh… What are you talking about?"

"... What are you talking about."

"Look Touma whatever you think I'm calling about I'm not. There's just something I need to tell you. When are you going to be back at your dorm?"

"Umm in a bit, I'm just helping a little girl go shopping"

"Oh is that what you think I would've been mad about. You give me far to little credit my Prince, I trust you".

_'I just don't trust that old hag not to weasel her way into your life.'_

"Thanks, Misaki. By the way, do you know anyone by the name of Nayuta?"

"Huh. No why?"

_'I guess I helped her when Misaki wasn't around.'_

"Nothing just a name that I heard in passing."

"Are you sure?"

Touma wanted to tell her about Nayuta, but he knew if told Misaki that he met her during the summer break which he had lost it would only bring back the pain that was in Misaki. He remembered when he saw her in the hospital room how she looked so sad and could not bring himself to bring that pain into her life again.

"Yeah, I'm sure. I'll see you later"

"Okay then bye my Prince"

Touma then hung up the phone and leaned on the wall to the Seventh Mist Mall.

"I wonder what she wants to talk to me about?" Touma murmured to himself.

Just as Touma was finishing that thought he heard the sound of people being evacuated from the mall.

_'What the hell is going on!'_

* * *

Touma then pushed against the crowd to get back inside of the mall he remembered that he left the little girl inside of there and had to be sure that she got out okay. Touma ran up the stairs to the mall to the level he last saw the little girl at when he saw Zapper.

"Hey Zapper! Where's the kid!"

"Huh? She's not with you!?"

Just then they saw the little girl run up to Uiharu with some sort of frog plushie in her hand.

_'There she is'_ Touma thought.

_'Wait a minute wasn't that the plushie that guy had!?'_ Misaka thought.

As soon as the little girl got within arms reach of Uiharu she yanked the Plush frog out of her hands and threw it across the room and yelled.

"GET OUT OF HERE! THAT'S THE BOMB!"

At that moment both Misaka and Touma made a dash towards the plush toy which was now collapsing into itself in the shape of a black orb. Misaka went into her pocket to grab an arcade token to use her railgun to blow the plush doll away but at the last second, her finger slipped. Just as she thought she was done for Touma jumped in front of all of them and stuck both of his hands in front of him to try to cover the bomb.

***BOOOOOOM!***

***REVERB***

However, the way Touma positioned his body his left hand was in the front so the sound of something reverbing could be heard, but before the explosion could be launched Touma clenched his left fist.

….

The entire area where the bomb exploded had left a giant scorch mark showing that the bombing was successful even the window to the mall shattered. If you were looking from the outside it would have seemed as though the bombing was a success however that was the furthest thing from the truth. On the other side of where the bombing took place the scorch marks on the floor, all led to one area. Touma's left hand.

At first, Touma looked around behind him to check if the girls were okay and a huge wave of relief hit him when they were. He then looked over at Misaka and noticed she was staring at him. Touma then looked over at his left hand still balled up into a fist and started to wonder.

_'Didn't Nayuta say whenever I ball up my left fist the AIM would disappear?'_

_'Wait a minute I didn't hear a second explosion from my counter does that mean.'_

Touma's face then began to turn ghostly pale as he suddenly came to the realization.

_'I HAVE A BOMB IN MY HAND!'_

"AHHHHHHHHH!" Touma screamed as he ran right straight for the exit of the mall realizing the predicament that he currently found himself in.

While this was happening Uiharu and the little girl assumed that Misaka was the one who saved them and didn't notice Touma as he ran away.

* * *

As Touma made it out o_f the mall while still screaming multiple thoughts raced through his head._

_'OH GOD IS THIS HOW I DIE. WHAT'S IT GONNA SAY ON MY GAVE, BLEW HIMSELF UP LIKE THE DUMBASS HE IS.'_

"OH GOD, Oh god, oh god," Touma said as he was starting to hyperventilate.

"I gotta call Misaki! NO Kamijou! Calling her is like giving up".

At this point, Touma found himself in the park running like a madman eventually stopping in the middle of the fields.

_'Okay, Kamijou think this isn't the end for you. There's gotta be a way out of this right?'_

Touma then sat there in the middle of the field rocking back and forth like a complete lunatic while bystander just looked away from him and continued to walk by him.

'_Okay think, maybe if I open my hand a bomb won't come out? WHO AM I KIDDING WITH MY LUCK IT'S GONNA BLOW HALF A CITY BLOCK ALONG WITH ME!'_

_'Oh come on man I never even got to experience the full 'joys of youth' what kind of messed up ending is this'_

"This is all your fault left hand! If it wasn't for you I wouldn't have a theoretical bomb strapped to me" Touma said while looking at his left hand with a death glare.

"If you were more like Imagine breaker over here than none of this would have happened in the first place…. Did I really just try to make my left hand feel bad by comparing it to my right" Touma then lowered his head in deep despair.

"Wait a minute Imagine Breaker" Touma then looked over at his right hand.

"Please god let this work" Touma then slowly moved his right hand towards his left in hopes that it would.

***Shatter***

The sound of glass breaking was heard when he made contact with his left hand.

Touma slowly started to open his hand.

"Here goes nothing." When Touma finally fully open his hand…. Nothing.

"YAAAAAAAAAAA!" Touma then thanked every god he knew of while jumping for joy.

"HAHAHAHAHA" Touma began to feel liberated like a huge weight just got lifted from his shoulders.

* * *

After cooling off for a bit to calm down (Which took a full 20 minutes) Touma walked through the park humming his favorite tune.

"HMM MMM HMM 🎶"

Just while he was about to pass a certain vending machine a certain Zapper made her appearance.

"GAH! Ambushed again" Touma said with fear in his voice.

"You angry?" Misaka said while leaning on the vending machine.

"What about the ambush? Nah, considering how good things were going for just a few minutes ago it would've weird if something like this didn't happen."

"Huh? No, I mean that everyone seems to think that I'm the one who saved the day from the Graviton bombings. If you come forward you'll be a hero".

"Who cares"

"Huh"

"If everyone made it out of their okay isn't that what matters. Does it really matter who saved them?"

"Who cares," Misaka said to herself. "Quit trying to act cool!"

"Uh oh" Touma then started to run away for dear life.

"WAIT THIS ISN'T OVER!"

"Oh come on! Such misfortune!"

* * *

After running for about an hour Misaka finally managed to stop Touma and corner him in an alley.

"Oh god. I survived a suicide bomb only to meet my end at the business end of a…" Touma said as he lowered his head and started to raise his right hand for protection.

"Oh shut up! I wasn't gonna try to fight you".

Touma then raise his head "Really?"

"No! Just come with me." Touma then looked at Misaka with eyes full of doubt.

"Liar! You're probably gonna take me to the edge of the district to some abandoned warehouse with a mysterious grave dug out!"

"What are you talking about!?"

Touma had just recently watched a bunch of mobster movies with Misaki at their last date night so this idea was still fresh inside his mind.

"GAAH! Fine what if I promise to stop trying to fight you for a week."

Touma thought about, lately, he's been so preoccupied with planning his revenge and dodging Misaka that he hasn't been spending much time with Misaki. Even if this was a trap he couldn't pass up the opportunity that was laid in front of him.

"Deal" Touma then raised his right hand in order to get a handshake from Misaka to confirm their deal.

Once she shook his hand he noticed her looking strangely at his hand.

"You just tried to shock me again didn't you?"

"Shut up! Just follow me."

After the two started to walk for a bit Touma began to wonder where she was taking him.

"So where are we going anyway?" Touma asked.

"To Judgement 177 Branch Offices"

* * *

**Judgment 177 Branch Offices**

After the entire Graviton bombing incident, the entire office was filled to the brim with every judgment agents most hated adversary Judgements jurisdiction only covered school grounds they were forced to do a ludicrous amount of paperwork before they would be able to go home. The office currently held four individuals Shirai Kuroko, Uiharu Kazari, Konori Mii, and Saten Ruiko all of which (except Saten) were completely tired.

"How many does that make Konori-senpai," Uiharu said while handing her another completed document

"That makes 5" Konori replied.

"And how many do we have left?" Shirai questioned.

"15 more documents Shirai"

"UHHHHH. How much longer are you guys gonna take I've been waiting here for hours" Saten complained.

"You know, you don't actually have to be here Saten. In fact, you're not even supposed to be here." Shirai snapped back.

"I know but…" Before Satan could finish they were interrupted by the sound of someone pounding on the door.

"Who could that be," Konori asked as she turned to Shirai.

Before anyone could answer the door was kicked in by Misaka.

"Onee-sama! You've come to save me!" Shirai screamed out as she began to run over to her like she was her knight in shining armor but before she could a second person entered the room it was a boy with black spiky hair. She stopped dead in her tracks.

"And who might this be?" Konori asked while turning around from her desk.

All four girls then fully abandoned their jobs of completing the paperwork in order to see who Misaka had brought them.

"Hi, my name's….Tsuchimikado Pierce" The boy with spiky black hair said with very little confidence. _'There is no way in hell that I'm telling them my real name'_

'_Why does that name sound so familiar?'_ Mikoto thought.

"Why hello there Mr. Tsuchimikado are you an acquaintance of Onee-sama," Shirai said calmly hiding the true rage she held deep inside.

_'Onee-sama?'_ Touma thought to himself.

"I guess you can say that," Touma said.

"Wait you don't mean?" Saten gasped as she then turned to Uiharu to confirm if she thought her suspicions were true.

"What are you two talking about," Shirai said while releasing a dark aura pointed directly at Uiharu.

Uiharu being the weaker of the two quickly folded and told Shirai.

"We saw Misaka and Tsuchimikado here talk at the Seventh Mist mall Today!" Uiharu cried out.

"Oh yeah, how's the little girl?" Touma asked.

"Oh She's fine we had the judgment agent from her school district escort her home she should be fine," Uiharu explained.

Shirai was at a loss for words _'They were talking…. That means he and Onee-sama…...No, no way would she go for someone like this ape!'_

"That's good to hear sorry I wasn't able to see her off, I had a crisis of my own to deal with," Touma said while rubbing the back of his head.

"Anyway, what brings you by judgment at this hour anyway?" Konori asked.

"Yeah, that's what I would like to know to" Shirai snapped as she glared at Touma.

"Yeah the reason I brought him here was-" Misaka began to say before she was interrupted by Touma.

"No, let me," Touma said reassuringly as he put his right hand on Misaka's shoulder. This instantly made her cheeks turn pink.

"Look the reason we came here was to clear the air."

Touma should have chosen his words a bit more carefully. Instantly everyone in the room came to the same conclusion.

_'No way!'_

"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!" Misaka screamed as her entire face turned red.

"Look I know it's embarrassing but you were the one who wanted this. " Touma said as he turned to Misaka.

"Onee-sama and this ape no way!" Shirai muttered out as her entire world was crumbling around her.

"Look you shouldn't blame Misaka for this, I mean it was kinda my fault too." Touma should really choose his word more carefully.

"Misaka no way! Why didn't you tell us!" Saten screamed.

At this point, Misaka was at a loss for words.

"Well, it's kinda embarrassing so that's probably why she didn't say anything" Touma answered on Misaka's behalf.

"No way! Misaka how long has this been going on!?" Uiharu demanded to know.

Misaka was still frozen in embarrassment so Touma answered on her behalf again.

"Well, it's been going on for about a month now give or take a couple of days" Touma answered.

"So all this time..." Shirai muttered as she felt herself start to faint.

"Well...how did you two meet," Konori asked trying to be as supportive as possible and hiding the fact that she was in utter shock too at the turn of events.

"Well, we met one day when a bunch of thugs were trying to talk to Zapper over here and I went over to help her and … Let's just say sparks flew everywhere." It was at this point in time that Touma was declared denser than osmium.

_'Zapper, no way they already have pet names for each other!'_ Saten thought to herself.

At this point, Shirai began to release a vicious amount of dark aura around her she slowly started to snap back into reality. However, Touma didn't notice.

"So with that, I hope you won't punish her too much," Touma said as he bowed his head to the Judgement officers. "Hey Zapper come on you gotta bow too" Touma whispered to the frozen Misaka.

"No, you really don't need to apologize for this, I mean" Konori muttered out.

"Huh, but I thought Judgement frowned upon this kinda stuff?" Touma asked.

"Well we don't exactly…...with a boy…...ahem as long as you don't do anything of that sort of nature in public I'm sure it should be fine," Konori said while her face was turning red.

"Huh seriously!" Touma was shocked that they were okay with Misaka challenging him to a fight every time they saw each other.

_'You've gotta be kidding me, what kind of judgment officers are these?'_

"Well since that's everything, I guess I should be heading off now." However, before Touma could leave he was intercepted by Saten who grabbed his arm.

"Wait a minute you can't just drop a bomb like that on us and then leave! We have tons of questions!"

"Like what exactly?"

"Well for instance what level are you? You would have to be impressive to make someone like Misaka take an interest in you." Uiharu jumped in.

"Oh me I'm a level 0"

"EHHHH, No way!"

"Yeah, is it that much of a shock?" Touma asked as he saw the entire room was in shock except for Misaka who was still frozen.

'Well for someone like Misaka to…. No offense or anything I'm a level 0 too, it's just a little jarring you know" Saten said.

Touma knew that it was out of an ordinary for a level 0 to be able to fight on par with a high-level esper.

"Yeah well, levels don't matter that much to me," Touma said.

"Of course, love transcends all levels" Uiharu declared.

_'Uh, I guess that's one way to put it.'_

"Well like I said I gotta be somewhere soon so bye," Touma said as he waved the judgment officers off. When he passed the still frozen Misaka he told her "You better keep your end of the promise Zapper".

As he finally exited the building he felt a shiver run down his spine.

"Why do I get the feeling this isn't over. Such Misfortune."

* * *

Once Touma had left the building the entire Judgement office was in complete chaos. Everyone bombarded Misaka with questions about her secret boyfriend except for Shirai who at this point was in utter despair and was lying on the couch contemplating where it all went wrong. It was at this point Misaka was beginning to come too.

"B B B… BOYFRIEND!" Misaka screamed as everyone in the room began to slowly back away from her.

"THAT IDIOT! He tricked me!"

"What do you mean Misaka?" Uiharu asked.

"I didn't bring him over for that. I brought him over to say that he was the one who really stopped the Graviton bomb that went off in the Mall Today".

At this point, Shirai began to come out of her state of depression and self-loathing and began to sit up straight.

"Wait, Onee-sama, you mean that you and that ape aren't having a secret relationship"

"OF COURSE NOT!" Misaka screamed as small sparks of electricity were coming out of her and her cheeks turned red.

"Then what was he talking about?" Saten asked.

"I guess he was talking about how I would challenge him to a fight every time I see him" Misaka answered.

"Wait you were challenging a level 0 to a fight every day for the past month!" Konori said as she scolded Misaka.

"What it wasn't like I could do anything to the guy, he beats me every time"

"Wait you're telling me a level 0 beat you," Saten said in shock.

"Yeah every time I would throw my electricity at him he would just negate it, it was only recently that I learned that he could shoot my electricity back at me!"

"No way! He's the guy. There's an Urban Legend about a guy who could negate other abilities! The whole being able to shoot stuff back out is news to me though. Ugh, why didn't I stop him I have so many other questions for him" Saten said as she mentally kicked herself for not stopping him.

"Don't worry Saten we can just look him up in the database remember" Uiharu explained as she jumped on the computer to look up the boy that they had just met.

"What was his name again?"

"I believe he said it was Tsuchimikado Pierce" Konori answered.

"Okay just give me a minute"

"Hey, Uiharu do you think the database would have any information about his weakness and stuff?" Misaka asked.

"Onee-sama, you seem a bit too excited about looking him up," Shirai said while looking at Misaka with sharp eyes.

"Umm guys…. There's a bit of a problem" Uiharu said.

"What is it Uiharu?" Saten asked.

"There's no one with the name Tsuchimikado Pierce listed in Academy City's database. I even tried spelling it in 7 different ways. I think he gave us an alias."

At this point, the entire room turned to Misaka who was giving off a large number of sparks.

"THAT LITTLE…." Misaka then remembered the promise that she made to him and imagined the smug look on his face if she were to break that promise.

At first, Misaka was stuck in between a rock and a hard place. She couldn't find out the boy's name unless she went after him, but she couldn't go after him without breaking her promise.

"Onee-sama are you okay" Misaka then turned to Shirai and a light bulb flickered on inside her head.

"Hey, Kuroko. Do you wanna do me a favor/" Misaka said with a cat-like grin on her face.

"Huh?"

* * *

**40 minutes later**

As Touma walked down the street he couldn't help but feel uneasy. He didn't expect everything to go that smoothly. He was able to catch the bus on time to take him closer to his dorm which in and of itself warranted some concern, but he could tell something bad was about to happen.

His suspicions would be proven true as he made his way to the end of the street and turned the corner to find the same girl he met at the judgment office she had two curly pigtails tied in red bows.

"I finally found you Mr. Tsuchimikado," Shirai said with malice in her voice.

At this Touma instinctively took a step back.

"Uh why are you here"

"Well, it has come to my attention that you not only defiled my precious Onee-sama but you also had the nerve to lie brazenly in front of all of our faces."

_'Uh oh'_

"Wait a minute how did you know I was lying about my name!"

"Simple, with the resources at Judgements disposal we easily found that your name was a lie," Shirai said while pointing accusingly at Touma.

"Wait a minute you guys tried to pull up my record. I knew it, that's why I didn't tell you guys my real name!"

"Tch! You have the Gaul to stand there and accuse me of anything you ape! Every night Onee-sama would come home late and complain about some guy who she couldn't beat and now you have the nerve to shoot lies at her to make her feel even worse!"

"Look I didn't mean to lie but…. Wait a minute" Touma was suddenly having a revelation.

"YOU KNEW!" Touma Shouted.

This immediately caught Shirai off guard as she did not expect him to yell at her.

"So for the past month while Zapper was harassing me you knew! I thought Zapper bad but you're worse. You gotta be the worst judgment officer of all time or something. I bet you even let her steal from vending machines."

Shirai was silent since she knew that her Onee-sama would occasionally steal from a local vending machine in the park by kicking it. The silence, however, spoke volumes to Touma.

"No Way. It's true!"

"Shut up! I'll have you know my Onee-sama is the darling of Tokiwadai!"

"You sure you don't mean Devil."

At this point, Shirai looked at Touma as if he committed the biggest heresy that she had ever seen.

"Hehehehe" Shirai darkly chuckled.

"Uhhm are you okay?" Touma asked as he was slowly backing up in order to make a run for it.

"You know when Onee-sama asked me to go get you I was a little skeptical at first. I mean to have you anywhere near her makes me sick. But when she told me to bring you back by any means necessary. Well, let's just say she didn't emphasize your personal well-being in her request."

"Wait you can't do that, you're in judgment and I didn't do anything wrong," Touma said as he protested his unfair treatment.

"Oh well," Shirai then began to take off her Judgement armband and put it in her skirt pocket. "I'm not here on behalf of Judgement. I'm here on Behalf of my Onee-sama" Shirai then pulled out her spikes that she kept in a pair on black straps on her thighs.

"Wait a minute what are those?" Touma said as he pointed at the spikes in Shirai's hands.

"Oh, my apologies. We haven't been properly introduced yet, My name is Shirai Kuroko and I'm a level 4 teleporter. However, with these darts here I'm able to displace matter when I teleport them." Shirai teleported a dart directly into the ground in front of Touma. "I should warn you if you try to resist I'll be forced to take drastic measure to ensure my safety, such as I don't know, teleporting one of these inside of you"

Touma couldn't help but shudder at the thought. She was on a completely other level than Misaka. He could usually get away from her by well running away but, that didn't seem to be an option for Shirai since she could teleport herself and not to mention she could teleport that thing inside of Touma.

"Okay fine you win." Touma then raised his hands in defeat.

"Hmph. I would've hoped you put up more of a fight but alas." Shirai said as she walked up to Touma and placed her hand on him.

"..."

"..."

"Uh, what's happening?" Touma questioned.

"Why isn't my ability working!"

"Oh sorry that me because of my ability things that affect my entire body, such as teleportation won't work on me."

_'Wait a minute if she can't teleport than I could…... Nope can't do it'_ Touma contemplated hitting Shirai but couldn't bring himself to as that would make him lower than trash.

"I guess we're gonna have to walk back," Touma said.

"Ahhh! Do you even know how far away from the Judgement office we are!"

"I don't know? I mean I took a bus here."

"Yeah well I teleported here and it still took me over 30 minutes to get here even when we tracked you down"

"How did you guys do that anyway?" Shirai then pointed at a security camera.

"There always watching you know."

"So much for Big Brother caring."

"So are we going or not," Touma asked.

"Well we're gonna have to get a Taxi," Shirai said.

"Do you have any money?"

Shirai then realized due to all the commotion she forgot to grab her purse from the judgment office.

"Hey, could you spot me?"

"Are you seriously asking you captive to loan you some money"

Shirai simply answered with a sharp glare.

"Ugh even if I wanted to I don't have any cash. I'm a level 0 remember, we aren't exactly swimming in cash you know." Touma said as he showed her the contents of his wallet. It was barren, to say the least. Shirai, however, took this opportunity to grab his wallet and look at his ID.

"Kamijou Touma. No wonder you lied about your name".

"Hey!" Touma then grabbed his wallet back.

"Fine, I guess we're going to have to walk."

"Sure …. Wait didn't you say you went to Tokiwadai?"

"Yes, what does that have to do with anything?"

Ever since Touma went out with Misaki she gave him a crash course about life in the dorms and there would always be one monster in all of her stories the Dorm Manager. He never actually saw the dorm manager himself (or maybe he did but never remembered) but the stories that Misaki would tell him would paint her as a straight up demon.

"Don't you guys have a curfew in a little while. Won't your Dorm Manager get mad if you're late."

This immediately made Shirai go pale as she had completely forgotten about curfew.

"How do you know about that!"

"Oh I know somebody who goes there, and they say that if your late by even a minute that the Dorm Manager would do unspeakable horrors to you," Touma said mockingly.

"Well uh, that doesn't matter! As long as I'm able to bring you to Onee-sama that's all that matters!"

"Wait a minute are you saying Zapper is still waiting for us at the Judgement office"

"Of course she is"

"Oh. Well, now I see".

"Now you see what?" Shirai asked.

"How much you actually care about your 'Onee-sama'. I know you don't care about what happens to you, but the fact that you would let 'her' go through the same punishment is just..." Touma then looked away from Shirai and began to shake his head in disapproval.

Shirai then realized that if her Onee-sama were to wait for them to arrive at the judgment office then they would surely be late for curfew and the Dorm manager would.

(Unspeakable Horrors)

"No Onee-sama!"

"Well there is one way you can save her"

"Which is?" Shirai then looked at Touma as though he was about to say something she knew she was not gonna like to hear.

"You could let me go."

"Out of the question, I already promised Onee-sama that I would bring you back to her."

"Okay but, hear me out, say you do drag me back there. Then what. You know she's gonna just try to fight me again and I bet that your fellow judgment officers would find it pretty hard just to look away as she tried to zap me to kingdom come."

"Well... Shut up!" Shirai snapped back at him

"I'm just saying. Besides, it's not my call it's yours. I'll go along with whatever you say. Remember I surrendered. All I'm doing is telling you what's probably gonna happen."

At this point, Shirai was conflicted if she conceded to her Onee-sama's wishes than Misaka would get in trouble from not only the Dorm Manager but also from judgment. However, if she went along with what this boy said then she would be betraying her beloved Onee-sama.

"Fine, you win" Shirai had conceded she couldn't force herself to put her beloved Onee-sama in danger. When she turned to begin to walk back to the Judgement office Touma could see how much this had devastated her, and he could swear that he could even see her beginning to cry.

"Hey hold up!" Touma called out to Shirai. She turned around wiping her face.

"What do you want now, come to gloat"

"No, I wouldn't do that. But I think I have a solution that will have everyone smile in the end".

"What are you talking about?" Shirai asked skeptically.

"Just take out your phone and call Zapper for me"

"Fine" Shirai had to call her anyway so this wasn't much of a bother to her anyway however she was suspicious of Touma's Intention.

The Phone rang three times before Misaka answered.

"Hey, Kuroko did you find him yet or do you want me to ask Uiharu to find him again."

"Hey Zapper," Touma said nonchalantly

"You! Why do you have her phone I swear if you did anything to her I'll-"

"Whoa there Zapper I think you got the wrong idea. You see your friend kinda has me as a hostage and is currently holding me at dart point if I try anything" This immediately caught both Misaka and Shirai off guard.

'_She actually got him'_

_'Why is he lying?'_

"Seriously?" Misaka asked.

"Yep. Unlike you, your friend here sure knows how to put the fear of God in me, unlike a certain Zapper I know."

"Ha. I wouldn't act so high and mighty if I were, you are her captive."

"True. So what do you want Zapper?"

"First Tell me your real name."

"Oh yeah. Sorry about that my real name is Kamijou Touma. You can ask your friend here to confirm she's the one who has my ID." Touma then passed the phone to Shirai and nodded.

"Hello, Onee-sama."

"Hey Kuroko good job at catching him. Is what he's saying about his name true?"

"Uhh yes I saw his ID from when I got his wallet"

"Good going, but be sure you give it back to him I don't want you to get in trouble for theft."

"Consider it done" Shirai then handed the phone back to Touma.

"So you convinced yet Zapper"

"Yep. I'm convinced you got beat up by Kuroko, and she took your wallet and you captive as her reward" Misaka taunted. Touma, however, didn't seem to mind.

"So is that everything?"

"No. I want you to agree that the promise we made is null and I can go back to trying to fight you".

"Okay"

"Huh. Really, I half expected you to try to find a way to weasel out of this."

"Nope. It was my fault for lying in the first place and I'm sorry I shouldn't have done that".

"Tch. Fine, you can go now. Put Kuroko back on the phone." Touma complied and handed Shirai the phone.

"Thanks for that Kuroko I mean it."

"It was nothing Onee-sama really I mean-"

"No, seriously I owe you one how about I grab us some takeout from Joseph's on the way back to the dorms. Oh, that reminds go straight back to the dorms I don't want you to miss curfew. I completely forgot. Sorry."

"Don't worry about it" _'A romantic dinner for me and Onee-sama someone pinch me because I must be dreaming'_

"Okay, you can let him go now Kuroko I'll see you back at the dorm bye." Misaka hung up the phone.

Shirai then turned to Touma and asked him "Why?"

"Huh, well it kinda was my fault, to begin with"

"Yeah but you could've got away scot-free, why'd you stop me?"

"Do I really need a reason to help someone? You looked as though you were upset and I couldn't just ignore something like that."

"But I just took you hostage aren't you the least bit upset?"

"Not really I mean even if you were out to get me I knew you wouldn't actually kill me"

"How could you have possibly known that!?"

"Well just call intuition, I don't know Zapper that well but I know her well enough to know while she is a bit 'extreme' she's still a good person and you said it yourself you're her friend"

Shirai was shocked by this, any regular person would have just let her walk off in tears but not this boy. He wanted to give her a happy ending.

"So you really were the one who stopped the Graviton bomb at the Mall today"

"Huh I guess you could say that all I did was absorb the explosion, Zapper was the one who actually caught the bomber."

"Huh, Humble I see. Well on behalf of Judgement thank you. And on behalf of me…. Thank you."

"Oh you don't have to thank me I didn't do anything that special"

_'Ugh! Just take the thank you'_ Shirai thought.

"Well if that's everything then I bid you farewell…. I have a special dinner with my Onee-sama and I don't wanna be late hehehehe" Shirai then vanished into thin air.

"Huh, weird kid" Touma muttered to himself when he finally noticed the time and realized that he was late in meeting up with Misaki.

"Such Misfortune"

* * *

**Touma's Dorm**

When Touma finally arrived at his Dorm he noticed that Misaki was nowhere in sight which wasn't that surprising since she also had the same curfew that he had just used to get out of a fight earlier.

"Oh man. This day had literally been nothing but misfortune for this Poor Kamijou hasn't it".

When Touma walked inside he noticed a box on the counter of his kitchen it was a present and there was a note attached to it.

When Touma opened the letter it read.

'Sorry I missed you, my Prince. Here I saw this when I was walking around and thought of you I hope you enjoy Signed Your, Golden Girl ".

Touma then put down the letter and proceed to open the box. When he finally managed to open it he was surprised to see that it was a case of his favorite black coffee.

"Huh I guess this day wasn't too bad after all"

* * *

**Author's Note**

For those of you who didn't get my science joke. osmium- densest metallic substance on earth

The way Touma's left hand operates is through the system of absorption and reflection. It will first absorb the supernatural phenomenon and then to the best of its ability to reflect it back. It works better on Esper abilities than Magic ones. Also, it is not instant it is exponential. With imagine Breaker if something is constantly poured in then it will just keep constantly negating it at the same speed. However Counter would just keep absorbing it at a faster rate.

Also, Touma can hold in his Counter Attacks by clenching his left fist before it fires back and erases it all together by using imagine breaker on it.

Also if you ever wondered what counter sounded like it sounds like the new sound effect that they are using for Imagine breaker for a certain magical index 3 right now.

Imagine breaker just sounds like the sound effect they used in season 2

Also, the Next Chapter will Be SS (Side Story) on Misaki's Day. It'll be what happened to her on July 18. Tune in Next time for Misaki's Misfortunate day.


	9. Chapter 9 SS: Misaki's Misfortunate Day

**Hey guys thanks for the support and for reading a Certain Scientific Counter. I really like reading the reviews it helps me better the story as a whole.**

**Anti-Mage 29- Good question. The answer is no it would not, Whenever Touma counters something with his left hand emanates the AIM field and spread it across his body like a virus only dying out when it goes down his right arm. Imagine breaker was never able to fully Negate something that is constantly flowing so he would have to touch it at the Source (Left hand) in order to fully get rid of it. Also thank you for your support and the Kami disease never died out its symptoms are only being treated for now.**

**Guest 0- This comment made me laugh. I can picture Touma running prometheus style away from a falling windmill heading straight for him and then it just bouncing right off his head at the last moment and Accelerator being what the F$#^ was that. And on your other comment yeah she would probably Tell everybody in the Railgang her relationship with Touma if she ever found out.**

**Graeskog- Thank you for your continued support! Misaki and Touma relationship was always based on the foundations of Mutual Respect and Love so Misaki would never try to Smother Touma. Also when Misaki does learn about what Misak did then….. Well lets just say there's gonna be a little bit more than just fireworks involved.**

**ultron emperor- Thank you. And I wouldn't worry about Touma vs Accelerator. Counter was never meant to make Touma OP it was just meant to give Touma a variety of other options in a fight in order to get the most epic fight scene posible.**

**Sergio644- Does Misaki seem the type to leave something this important in the hands of Judgement. When she finds out….**

**Fortitude501- I got inspired to write that from watching a Movie I just rewatched recently 30 minutes or less. Yeah the only reason I write SS are because if I didn't then some things wouldn't make a lot of sense in future chapters.**

**MarkGib- Of course it was all thanks to his favorite honey blonde.**

**BlueJack22- It does doesn't it… Wonder how long that will last.**

**Ultra Instinct Shaggy- I"M OVERFLOWING WITH ENERGY!**

**Nguyen Thanh Long- The only reason Kuroko hated Touma was because she saw him as competition. But now that he helped her get a Romantic Dinner with Misaka she likes him better. For proof just read chapter 12.5 for a Certain Scientific Railgun side story Astral Body. **

**Whwsms- Yes the reason for that is that he gave a hybrid of both his friends name So Uiharu couldn't find him (Touma was never really good at naming things)**

**Minnidog 118- Yes and No. If Touma uses his counter on Accelerator he would temporarily gain Accelerators Vector Transformation ability until all of his AIM fields dissipate from him. So it would be more likely that both of the opposing Vectors would just cancel each other out resulting in a regular punch. **

SS: Misaki's Misfortunate Day.

**July 18**

When Misaki woke up many things raced through her head from the day before. First, she had found out that her Prince was now a Gemstone which was bound to bring trouble in and of itself. But she had also found out the old hag had done more for Touma then she ever has, she got rid of Deadlock and the man behind organizing the entire operation. She also learned that she was in charge of overseeing all the Gemstones in Academy city which would mean that she would be able to spend more time with Touma and with her declaration of war it meant now more than ever Misaki had to stake her claim as Touma's Girlfriend.

(My Prince, I always knew you were special and wanted the world to see it but not like this) Misaki thought to herself.

(Well what the worst thing that could happen since he's a Gemstone) Misaki then imagined Touma hearing the News and Panicking and deciding to skip town.

"No, I won't let that happen!"

Misaki didn't realize she said this out loud and within seconds she heard knocking at the door.

"My Queen are you alright"

Misaki face slightly turned red out of sheer embarrassment. "Yes everything's fine"

Misaki then proceeded to get changed into her school uniform as she began to think of a way to help Touma transition into being a Gemstone but quickly realized that she had no idea how. Becoming a higher level and becoming a Gemstone were two completely different things. Misaki had no idea how they operated as there were so few Gemstones in the city. She then remembered what Kumokawa new job was. She was in charge of overseeing all the Gemstones.

(That Old Hag! This was her plan all along she knows Touma is going to have a hard time transitioning into a Gemstone. So that's how she plans to weasel her way back into my Prince's life)

Once Misaki had finished changing she exited her room to find members of her clique patiently waiting for her.

"Good Morning my Queen," They all said in unison.

"Good Morning, What's on the Agenda Today Junko"

"Well actually my Queen it seems that you are actually free today"

This actually came to a surprise to Misaki as she was used to having her mornings full of overseeing her clique, but like any well-oiled machine eventually, they were able to take care of most things themselves without the need of their Queen's supervision.

"Good because I have a job for you"

"What is it, my Queen?" Junko asked.

"It has come to my attention that my prince has moved up in his ranking he is now a Gemstone"

"Really Kamijou-san is a Gemstone" Junko was in shock she knew Touma, but she never would have expected this.

"Yes and I want to help him transition into his new life as a Gemstone that is why I want you to find me another Gemstone, so I can ask them about their daily life."

"My Queen if I may" Sakibasu Yuri spoke up

"You may"

"I can tell you for a fact that there are no Gemstones currently enrolled in Tokiwadai my Queen"

"I already knew that is there anything else."

"Yes, I do know of one, but…."

"Well, who is it?"

"It's the seventh level 5 my Queen Sogiita Gunha'

(Ugh why does it have to be him)

"Is he really the only one" Misaki complained.

"I'm sorry my Queen, but she's right Gemstones are among the rarest things in Academy city, I currently don't know any other Gemstones but him," Junko confirmed.

"Fine arrange a meeting with him"

"That might be a problem my Queen" Sakibasu said.

"Why is that"

"You see nobody really knows where he is. Rumor has it that he barely even shows up to his school at all. He just wanders aimlessly around the city helping people."

"So what are you saying you can't find him"

"No, but we'll have to hope that he uploads another video soon."

"Wait, another video what are you talking about?"

"Oh for his YouTube channel."

(...)

"He has a YouTube Channel" Misaki was still in shock at this revelation though you could not tell by looking at her.

"Yes, my Queen his channel is called…... Ahem, 'TheRealestGuts!'"

"You've got to be joking, who would even watch that?"

"A lot of people actually my Queen he currently has over a million subscribers"

"..."

(What has this world come too) Misaki then contemplated humanities future.

"How does he have so many subscribers?" Misaki asked.

"Well most of his subscribers originate from America in actuality only about less than 1 percent of his subscribers are from Academy City." Junko pointed out.

Junko then proceeds to pull out her phone which was covered in Gekota accessories and opened YouTube to show her Queen a clip of one of his videos.

In the video, it showed Sogiita Gunha who is now sporting a white jacket along with a rising sun shirt. Misaki couldn't help but see some similarities between him, and her prince.

"Hey guys I'm here in Academy City with my new coat but you know what I like a lot more than materialistic things, Guts, you see with Guts there's no limit to what you can do"

The screen then cut to a full body view of his body then various types of explosions went off behind him such as explosions of colorful red, blue, and yellow.

At this point, Misaki broke that illusion she had earlier and saw that they couldn't be any more different. While her Prince was humble and kind, he was more hot-blooded and prideful.

She then motioned for them to turn off the video as she had seen enough.

"Well then I see you have your work cut out for you' Misaki said.

"Don't worry my Queen we'll find him by the time our classes are over" Junko assured her.

"I will look up everything we currently know about Gemstones while we wait my Queen" Sakibasu said.

"Alright now if you don't mind I need to head over to the school and attend class"

After that Misaki made her way down to Tokiwadai middle school it was a large school building with highly sophisticated equipment with an elegant design to it, fitting for ojou types such as herself. However, as she entered the school she was once again surrounded by members of her clique. Misaki didn't mind this as she was used to the attention as it came with being a level 5 however it reminded her of how her prince will also be in a similar situation.

After Misaki was done with most of her classes she decided to use her free period to review the research that Sakibasu had collected for her.

A Gemstone is defined as an esper who has obtained their power without an artificial method such as the Power Curriculum Program. Due to this fact they are as rare as level 5s at least inside of academy city they are, it was estimated that there are at least 50 Gemstones around the world in total. Academy City currently has a theory that explains the Gemstones' existence: If their espers are artificial diamonds, then the Gemstones are natural ones. Due to this fact, they are considered prized research materials, but because of this many espers dislike Gemstones due to the fact that they never went through the Power Curriculum Program. The research also underlined the importance of the safety of Gemstones from foreign organizations since they believe that Gemstones hold the key for creating their own psychic power development institutions.

After Misaki read through all the data she couldn't help but sigh.

(So this is what that old hag was talking about. He's now has a walking target on his back.)

Misaki then contemplated trying to reverse the ruling that Touma was a Gemstone but quickly dismissed the idea since not only would that be extremely time-consuming but from what the 'Old hag' told her this decision came from the General superintendent them self, and she knew better than to try to purposely go against it, besides it was in the best interests in her Prince as well.

As the day continued to move on Misaki couldn't focus as questions began to fill her mind. Though Touma was considered a Gemstone now why wasn't he declared one earlier. Kumokawa stated that it was due to him fighting another powerful esper. Who could it be, it would have to be someone powerful enough to warrant an investigation. Who could it be?

And why was Shundou Toshizou after Touma? If I recall correctly he was originally affiliated with the Clone Dolly: Ideal Program, but that was closed down due to Yuri Senya untimely demise.

(Wait a minute, Touma is able to replicate AIM fields perfectly so it would stand to reason that he could absorb more than one at the same time. Is that why he was after Touma?)

(It would make the most sense. It was due to his obsession and lack of humanity over the project which led to the project's failure the first time. Did he want another chance?)

"TCH this is why I hate dealing with crazies" Misaki moaned.

Once the school-day had come to an end she was informed by her clique that they were unable to find Sogiita Gunha. They apologized profusely at their utter failure but Misaki forgave them since it really was an impossible task to accomplish. In truth, Misaki was more concerned about the fact that she might actually have to go to Kumokawa for help in finding more information on being a Gemstone. If push came to shove Misaki could stow away her pride for a bit for the sake of her prince but this would only be as a last resort. For now, she had to inform her prince that he was a Gemstone.

Misaki then left the Garden district in order to make her way to District 7 to meet up with Touma.

When her clique first learned that she had a boyfriend they were surprised, to say the least, most of them jumped at the chance to meet Touma. Misaki was happy to show off her new boyfriend but quickly learned that Touma had a tendency to attract girls to him. After the first time, she introduced Touma to her clique she read the minds of every girl there and found out that they all had feelings for Touma needless to say she made everyone forget that they met Touma in order to keep the peace. She quickly wisened up after this and only showed him off to some of her closest confidants. It's common knowledge in Tokiwadai that Misaki is in a relationship but it is only known to a select few the name of her boyfriend or even what he looks like. It eventually came to a point where rumors started around Touma one of which said he was so charming that he could win the heart of any maiden he wanted to another one started that if you ever saw the Queen's boyfriend you would gain Good Fortune.

The rumors really didn't bother Misaki all that much in fact they even flattered her. But since she was going to see Touma she put Junko in charge of overseeing her responsibilities in her absence. This was a common occurrence to Junko ever since Misaki started to date, Touma. So much so that she was able to run the clique as steady as a ship now.

Misaki was not one to take a train or a bus anywhere by herself, so she had a personal driver pick her up and drop her off at district 7. When Misaki exited the car she informed the driver to wait for her to call back to pick her up, and then she went on her way.

As Misaki wandered the streets of District 7 she reminisced on the time she and her Prince had here. Early during this school year when Misaki and Touma were still only friends, Touma decided to show her what an average day was like for him, however, unlike the last time, it didn't end with them being chased by a crazed organization trying to kill them. The reason Touma did this was that he saw how depressed and anxious Misaki was over what had happened to him and how she was constantly worried that something like that would happen again to him if they weren't careful. It was Touma's way to show her that even though the world can be a scary place you shouldn't be afraid to go out and enjoy it. While the outing itself wasn't anything noteworthy it still helped Misaki get over her anxiety of losing Touma to something like that again.

As Misaki made her way down the street she passed a convenience store. Usually, she would avoid all convenience stores as she had a staunch belief that they weren't worthy of her time, but she recognized this particular store since she just recently saw a picture of this store on Touma's 'Master Plan' board for getting his coffee back. She couldn't resist the temptation of checking the place out in order to see why it was so appealing to her Prince.

Once Misaki entered the store she saw that while it was modest it still had some charm to it she also noticed that almost everything in the store was on sale.

(So that's why)

When she walked over to the beverage section of the store she noticed something that immediately caught her eye. It was the same brand of Black coffee that Touma was obsessing over yesterday. 'Didn't he say he wanted to get this?' Misaki then came to the conclusion that Touma being noble abandoned his quest, trying to get his coffee for her sake. At first, she was flattered but then almost immediately afterward felt a little shame. She didn't want to be the reason why he didn't get to enjoy his favorite drink so instead, she decided to buy it for him as a present. Besides, its best to break the news to him gently.

When Misaki brought the pack of coffee to the counter she also brought along a present box to put the coffee in (mostly so people wouldn't see her carrying a pack of coffee). When the man over the counter saw this however he started to sweat bullets.

"Um is something wrong sir?" Misaki asked.

"I'm sorry but I can't sell that to you" The man nervously replied.

"Excuse me. Why not, am not paying customer. What type of establishment are you running here" Misaki why offended by this to no end.

"It's not that it's just…. The other boy he…. Said to hold the pack for him until he came back for it….so".

(Another boy… He must be talking about the same person Touma mentioned in his plan) Misaki thought to herself.

Not wanting to have to reason with the man Misaki simply went inside her purse and clicked a button. After that, the shop attendant was more than happy to sell her the coffee. All she had to do was erase that other boy from his memories.

(Let's see how you like it when you don't get your coffee)

Once Misaki exited the store she continued to walk down the street until she ran into 'her'

"Misaka-saaan~" Misaki called over to the unexpecting Esper.

(Ugh why did I have to run into her of all people) Misaka sighed mentally.

"What do you want Shokuhou. I never thought I'd see you of all people here today. What did you get bored with ordering your little minions today." Misaka spat out.

"What can't a fellow Tokiwadai student be happy to see there classmate?" Misaki chooses to ignore the comments about her clique.

Misaka then glanced down and saw that Misaki was holding a present box.

"What's that?" Misaka questioned.

"What this? It's just a present I picked up for my boyfriend you see, not that you'd know anything about that" Misaki teased.

A small vein started to form on Misaka's head after this comment.

"Boyfriend huh. I always thought that you'd just made him up. I mean it'd make the most sense, since who in their right mind would ever want to be with you. And even if you did, you probably just forced the poor sap into a relationship with you" Misaka rebutted.

A small vein started to form on Misaki's head after this.

"You know Misaka-san jealousy isn't a good look on anyone. Besides, you continue to act like a child then" Misaki then lowered her head to see Misaka's chest. "You'll never grow out of being one."

Misaka then quickly covered her chest and started to turn red out of embarrassment.

"Why would anyone ever want those useless lumps of meat!" Misaka snapped back.

"What!? How Dare you!"

Be it divine intervention or part of someone else's Grand plan, Academy City was saved from the scorn of 2 level 5s that day by the sudden arrival of Saten and Uiharu.

"Hey, Misaka!" Saten called out from the distance.

"Huh?" Misaka turned around to see if her mind was playing tricks on her but it was really Saten walking with Uiharu towards them.

However, during this Misaki thought it best to make a graceful exit. So she simply began to walk past Misaka.

"Well, I can see you're quite busy. I'll be seeing you around Misaka-san" Misaki said as she waved her off. Both girls had a similar thought run through their minds at that very moment.

(I really can't stand that girl!)

(I really can't stand that girl!)

"Hey Misaka who was that?" Uiharu asked.

"Oh her. Nobody important. Hey, why don't we all go to the Seventh Mist Mall today?"

"Okay," Saten and Uiharu said in Unison.

"I didn't know girls from Tokiwadai shopped there?"

"Well we do, and we even stand and read Magazines (Manga) in convenience stores too" Misaka tried to play off her bad habit as something everybody did at Tokiwadai, in case her friends ever caught her in the act.

As Misaki continued her walk to her Prince's Dorm she was distracted by her previous discussion with Misaka. 'Why are we enemies', 'pretty much the same' As Misaki was thinking this an image of Dolly popped inside of her head. Misaki's face then turned to one of sadness as she remembered. _'Oh, that's why'_.

Misaki remembered the real reason why she originally took an interest in Misaka and wanted to read her mind. It was because her face reminded her so much of what Dolly looked like. After the incident, Misaki made it her mission to figure out why and eventually found the answer. It was because Dolly was a prototype in an attempt to make Clones of Misaka. Misaki knew that the researchers probably tricked Misaka into giving them her DNA Map but to her, it was Misaka's naivety which caused so many problems for her, and she resented her for it.

While Misaki was thinking this, she accidentally bumped into another person. Needless to say, it was more like bumping into an iron wall.

"Ow," Misaki cried as she dropped the present that she was going give to her Prince. Panic had begun to set in as inside since the present was a Pack of coffee was very delicate and dropping it like that would lead to the pack being destroyed.

As Misaki watches as the present continued to fall she blinked and it was gone. At first, she was confused, where did the present go?

"Sorry about that, I was distracted looking for someone. Here I think you were about to drop this" The strange boy said while holding her present.

"Thanks," Misaki said while rubbing her arm.

"No problem I'm just glad that I had enough Guts to save this thing," The boy said while presenting Misaki's present

(Uhhh…. What?)

"Okay then bye," Misaki said as she took the present from his hand and turned to walk away.

"See ya," The strange boy said as he walked off.

….

Misaki then quickly turned around and scanned the boy he had black wide swept spiky hair he also wore a modified white school uniform with the jacket as a makeshift cape along with a shirt of Japan's rising sun. "Wait a minute are you Sogiita Gunha?"

"Huh yeah. Why do you ask?"

"Good because I need your help"

"Sure it's the duty of anyone with Guts to help those in need," Sogiita said while punching his right fist into his left.

(Oh god. I thought that was just a thing he did for his videos)

"So what you ya need help with?" Sogiita asked.

"Well it's not me exactly who needs help it's for somebody that I know. Just recently he's been classified as a Gemstone and".

"REALLY THEN HE MUST HAVE SOME SERIOUS GUTS WHERE CAN I FIND THIS GUY!"

Misaki was not ready for Sogiita intense screaming so it took her a moment to regain her composure.

"Okay but first can you tone it down a bit. You're at an 8 and I'm going to need you to be at least down to a 3 if I want to keep my hearing."

"Sorry about that I forget not everybody can handle my level of Guts," Sogiita said

Misaki then led Sogiita to Touma's dorm but quickly realized that he wasn't there.

"Uhh, so where is this guy I can't sense his Guts anywhere."

"That's odd he should be here by now. Let me call him."

Misaki then quickly grabbed her phone and went under contacts and clicked on 'My Prince'.

"Hey Misaki"

"Touma…. We need to talk".

"Look Misaki I swear it wasn't what it looked like"

"Huh… What are you talking about?"

"... What are you talking about."

"Look Touma whatever you think I'm calling about I'm not. There's just something I need to tell you. When are you going to be back at your dorm?"

"UMM in a bit, I'm just helping a little girl go shopping"

"Oh is that what you think I would've been mad about. You give me far to little credit my Prince, I trust you".

(I just don't trust that old hag not to weasel her way into your life.)

"Thanks, Misaki. By the way, do you know anyone by the name of Nayuta?"

"Huh. No why?"

(Nayuta who's that?)

"Nothing just a name that I heard in passing."

"Are you sure?"

Misaki was worried that Touma was keeping something from her. She knew that Touma would never keep anything from her unless he had a good reason, but she still couldn't help but worry.

"Yeah, I'm sure. I'll see you later".

"Okay then bye my Prince"

'Mental Note: Look up this Nayuta' Misaki Thought to herself

"So the guy's name is Prince huh" Sogiita declared while crossing his arms.

"What no. That's just what I call him because he's my boyfriend." Misaki clarified.

"Wait, I thought you said this guy was just announced as a Gemstone so wouldn't he be new to Academy City?"

"No I said he was just 'classified' as a Gemstone he was originally a level 0 but I always knew he was special"

"SO HE'S BEEN HIDING HIS TRUE GUTS FROM THE WORLD THIS WHOLE TIME!" Sogiita was shocked to say the least.

"Okay. Like I said before if you could please refrain from shouting. That would be much appreciated." Misaki was then rubbing her ears from the ringing pain that was in them.

"Sorry. But why would he hide his true guts like that?"

"It wasn't exactly his fault. It's just the way Academy City decides to measure his powers. Since they couldn't get a good grasp on his powers they decided to just label him a level 0, you probably wouldn't understand".

Sogiita just stood there for a moment to take all the information in.

"I get what that's like actually. Academy City still isn't even able to tell what exactly my ability is even to this day and people get mad at me from the explanations I give to them, so I decided to show the world my true Guts after that I was eventually named a level 5.

(Uh I guess that was his way of sympathizing)

"So what is this guy like?"

"Huh Touma" Misaki stood there trying to find words that best suited her Prince. "Well to start he's kind and caring, but he won't back down from a fight if someone was in danger. He's the type of person who would put everything on the line just to protect one girl's smile, even if that meant going against reality itself."

"What did you say his name was again?" Sogiita asked.

"Kamijou Touma my Prince"

"Well, this Kamijou guy sounds like he has some serious guts. I'd like to meet him someday and test those guts with mine."

"Uh, what are you talking about?" Misaki said with a very concerned look on her face.

"Oh, nothing."

"By the way, you mentioned earlier that you were looking for someone. Who was it?"

"Oh that. I don't exactly know his name exactly but have you heard of the Graviton bombings?"

"Yes, I have heard about them. Were you trying to find the perpetrator behind the attacks?"

"Yeah, but I was having a really hard time finding him. Whoever the bomber is they lack Guts, enough so it's harder for me to track them."

"So what was your plan exactly just walk around until you bumped into the bomber?"

"Yeah," Sogiita said.

Misaki chuckled at this since it was a ridiculous idea. I mean what were the odds that he would be able to stumble into the bomber just by walking around.

"You'd probably have better luck if you had brought Touma along with you considering his luck he's probably already bumped into the bomber," Misaki said sarcastically.

However, Sogiita took this very literally.

(Kamijou Touma the man Overflowing with Guts)

"Anyway if you don't mind me I'm gonna drop these off at his Dorm," Misaki said as she reached for Touma's door.

"Wait you're not allowed to enter another person's dorm without their permission," Sogiita said as he reprimanded Misaki.

"Huh but I have a key so it wouldn't really be classified as Trespassing," Misaki said as she showed Sogiita the Key.

"Okay then. But why do you have a key to his apartment?" Misaki instantly blushed at this question.

"It's not what you think. It's just sometimes Touma loses his key and needs me to let him in".

"Then why doesn't he just give a spare key to his neighbor"

"I try my best to try to limit his exposure to there… Influence." Misaki said as she glared at Tsuchimikado's dorm room.

Sogiita just stood there looking unconvinced. Misaki then decided it would be best to just go straight for Touma's room then to continue Sogiita line of questioning.

When Misaki entered Touma's Dorm everything seemed to be Normal. His Dorm was clean and everything seemed perfectly fine. To fine.

Misaki knew that Touma was hiding something from her but what could it be? Misaki wandered his dorm room and saw a picture of them on their first real date by his bed it was right next to a picture of his parents. Misaki could still remember that day. It was their first official date as a real couple and Misaki wanted everything to go perfect she even had Junko tag along in secret so everything would go smoothly. In the end, fate had other ideas and their romantic first date ended with a rainstorm on their picnic at the park. This, however, didn't really bother them. Touma was happy just to be with Misaki and Misaki felt the same. So the picture was of them smiling together in the rain. Even if Misfortune hits as long as I'm with you I'll always be lucky. That was the engraving that the picture frame had.

At this Misaki couldn't help but smile. Misaki then found where Touma kept the envelopes and parchment paper that he used to write to his family and decided to leave him a note. As Misaki was about to leave the dorm however she noticed a creak in the floor. Normally she never would have noticed but now she could hear it loud and clear. Misaki then moved the small table that was next to his bed and could hear the creaking more clearly now. Misaki was sure that there was something hidden under the floorboards. But once Misaki was about to peel away the carpet Sogiita came through the door.

"Hey what's taking so long!" Misaki quickly gave up her attempts of trying to figure out what was under the floorboard for now. But she would ask Touma about this Tomorrow.

As Misaki was about to leave Touma's dorm grounds with Sogiita she was immediately stopped by a familiar voice.

"What leaving so soon?"

Misaki then turned around and saw Kumokawa leaning on the entrance to Touma's dorm building.

"What the- when did 'you' get here!" Misaki hissed.

"Who me? I've been here for quite a while now, wasn't that hard to figure what you were playing if I'm going, to be honest. I'm just surprised that it took you this long" Kumokawa said in a mocking tone of voice.

"Oh, so you guys know each other?" Sogiita asked.

"You can say that Sogiita. We actually know each other through a mutual associate of ours" Kumokawa stated.

"So why did you decide to visit Touma's dorm at this time of day anyway?" Misaki prodded.

"You really need to listen better. Like I said before I already knew what you were planning to show Kamijou the 'joys' of being a Gemstone." Kumokawa said sarcastically. "But I would've thought you would have come to me sooner instead of rushing to give Kamijou some haphazard breakdown of being a Gemstone" Kumokawa then waved her finger in disapproval.

(TCH)

"My only desire was to give Touma the most information as soon as possible, however now that you're here I'm sure that you'd be happy to give me all the information you know about Touma's status change," Misaki said.

"Of course. Like I told you before it was always my intention to help Kamijou in any way that I can I am responsible for the well-being of all the Gemstones currently staying in Academy City after all" Kumokawa replied in what seemed to be a genuine tone of voice but Misaki could see the mocking undertones in her speech pattern.

"Alright then if you won't mind," Misaki said.

"Oh not here. Wouldn't it be better if I brought you to the research facility where Kamijou and Sogiita over will be attending from now on."

"Research facility? I thought the change would be on paper only."

"It is. However, Kamijou will still have to show up every now and again just to check in. It's one of the requirements for every Gemstone in Academy City isn't that right Sogiita. Kumokawa then motioned to Sogiita who has been unnaturally quiet. It seemed as though even he could sense the tension within the air.

"Oh yeah, that's right. Every other week I have to check in with the lab, so they can test my Guts out".

….

….

"Okay then let's head there shall we," Kumokawa stated. "You can come along to Sogiita you didn't check in this week did you?"

"Nah I was to busy trying to find the Graviton Bomber."

"Oh. Well, I'm sorry to say this but I believe the Ace of Tokiwadai beat you there".

"What!?"

(Misaka!?) Misaki thought.

"Yes, the Railgun stopped his attempted bombing of the Seventh Mist Mall. I believe the name of the bomber was Kaitabi Hatsuya".

(Wait, the Seventh Mist Mall? Didn't Touma say he was helping a little girl shop!?)

"Oh and before you ask there were zero fatalities in this failed bombing, in fact, nobody got hurt, unless you count property damage," Kumokawa said while looking at Misaki.

(Okay at this point I'll find it hard to believe that she's not a precog!)

"Now Shokuhou, be a doll and call that driver to have him pick us up," Kumokawa said in a playful but mocking tone.

"TCH. Fine where should I have him take us" Misaki said.

"District 2 if you would be so kind that's where the research lab is after all~"

The car ride to the Research Facility was awkward, to say the least. Neither Misaki nor Kumokawa would make small talk and instead just stared out the window. And Sogiita wasn't any better as he would just try to talk to the driver and ask him about Guts. So everybody was relieved when they finally arrived at the Research facility.

* * *

**Gemstone Research Facility.**

When Misaki first saw the research facility it looked more like a giant sports arena. The Facility itself was shaped as a giant Football arena with a giant retractable roof. One could easily mistake it for one if it weren't for the fact that it was seemingly in the middle of Nowhere the surrounding land around the research Facility was barren except for the road leading up to it. This was due to the fact that the surrounding area was filled with alarms and traps in case anyone ever tried to attack the research facility the barren terrain would give the researcher a perfect view to see any upcoming attacks and be able to plan accordingly.

"So this is it huh?" Misaki said while eyeing the building. The road in which they were driving in was filled with street lamps in order to better shine the streets leading up to the facility along with what seemed to be a Cable car leading up directly to the research facility.

"Yeah, it's pretty badass ain't it. Though the researchers get mad at me whenever I use my guts to let myself in" Sogiita added.

Both of the girls were annoyed at his commentary, to say the least but it kept them from picking a fight with each other. Especially Kumokawa, since she was the one, stuck filing the repair order every time he did that.

"So any thoughts yet Shokuhou?" Kumokawa said to Misaki.

"Not yet. Until I can see the inner workings of the facility for myself I won't be at ease and neither would Touma" Misaki replied.

"Then why don't I give you the Grand Tour," Kumokawa announced.

When the trio walked in they were greeted with some very sophisticated equipment. The moment the stepped foot inside the facility a ray of light shined on all of their faces The light was actually a scanner to detect a person through facial recognition on the screen in the center of the facility it showed a screen with all of their names and information however it did not show a picture of their faces.

"I'm guessing that's your security?" Misaki asked.

"Beats having to pay for guards, besides were on the same secure network as the Anti Skill training facility just a few kilometers that way, so in case any intruders do get in they wouldn't last very long." Kumokawa boasted. "Sogiita I believe you need to check in so if you don't mind I would like to show Shokuhou here my office."

However, when Kumokawa turned around Sogiita had already left.

"Argh, why doesn't that imbecile ever sit still," Kumokawa said while sighing.

"Well now that's not very nice now is it~," Misaki said in a mocking tone of voice.

"Oh save it, you know as well as I that he's not all there. I mean Guts this Guts that".

"By the way what is that, is it a verb, an adjective or a noun?"

"To him, it's all the above."

Misaki then walked along with Kumokawa to her office when they arrived there Misaki saw an ornate room with a screen wall to wall all picturing a different section of the facility. In the center of the room, it had a large desk covered in documents along with a large computer screen monitor, probably where Kumokawa did most of her work.

"So why are you really doing this and don't say out of the goodness of your heart" Misaki spat out.

"Well to tell you the truth it's easier to have you like my little messenger girl parroting everything I say to Kamijou, it saves me the trouble of having to explain it to him."

"So you're just saying it's more convenient for me to tell Touma all of this."

"Yes, and I'd hate to be the one that he associates with being a Gemstone with you know Kamijou never was one who enjoys the spotlight"

"So that's your angle, you're trying to get Touma to associate me with his new-found Gemstone status, so he'd view me under a negative light"

"Bingo."

"You know that'll never work Touma loves me"

"Pfft, love your just a passing fling nothing more nothing less, and once that fling ends I'll be there to step in to fill the void that you left"

Misaki was livid with rage not only did Kumokawa imply that Touma didn't love her, but she also said that she'd try to take him away from her.

"Just give me the information you old hag." Not wanting to give into Kumokawa's taunts Misaki held her tongue by focusing on the task on hand at hand.

"Gladly" Kumokawa then handed Misaki a large stack of paper that had all the necessary information on Touma's new status as a Gemstone.

"So to put it in words I think you'll understand there are 3 changes that will affect Kamijou's life the most. First, now that his status has been changed from Level 0 to Gemstone, Touma will be receiving a different amount for his allowance."

"How big of a difference?"

"Well, the way Gemstones get allowances is quite different from how an Esper does. First, it's based on how much information we are able to collect from them the same as they do for regular espers. However, unlike them, Gemstones have the benefit of having an Unknown factor involved with them."

"Unknown Factor?"

"Since Gemstones operate on a different principle then regular espers they are given certain leeway, in the form of an Unknown Factor. To put it simply the more we don't understand your power the bigger the allowance you get."

"Wait, then that means-"

"Yep. Kamijou's allowance will be as big as a level 4. Be sure to help him come down from his windfall".

"Well I guess there's a silver lining after all" Misaki said (Maybe I can finally get him off of convenience store food?)

"Next is that he will no longer go through his usual System Scan"

"Understandable, since it would just bring about more suspicion"

"Finally and most importantly, now that Touma is a Gemstone he will be required to check in with us every day via text and at least twice a month in person, so we can conduct a welfare check"

"Welfare check?"

"Since Gemstones are considered prized research materials. Some organizations believe that by acquiring them they will be able to better understand how AIM fields work it's also due to this reason, his file is now under constant surveillance. However, he would be able to circumnavigate these welfare checks if, I don't know a high-level researcher were to personally check on his well-being".

"Listen to my words carefully. That's Never Going to Happen" Misaki said sternly while looking Kumokawa dead in the eyes.

"Can't blame a girl for trying?" Kumokawa said while chuckling.

"Is that everything?"

"Well, there was one other thing I wanted to talk to you about regarding a problem that-?"

"What is it. Don't tell me that the old hag has finally found a question she couldn't find the answer to." Misaki said mockingly interrupting Kumokawa.

(I was going to tell you to watch out for Mikoto Misaka making any moves on Kamijou, but now I just want to see how you'll react when you find that out yourself, you Brat) Kumokawa thought

"I was just going to say that be careful about Kamijou's grades falling behind, I heard he got himself stuck in supplementary classes"

"Ugh don't remind me."

"Why is that anyway? Somebody with your skill would easily be able to 'convince' his teacher to let him pass?"

"That's because that's what Touma wanted"

"What Kamijou wanted?"

"Yes, do you have a problem with that?"

"Yes, quite a few actually. The first being that you acquiesced to Kamijou's request".

"And what's wrong with that" Misaki was staring down Kumokawa who was still sitting down at her desk.

"As you know Kamijou is the type of person who likes to help right"

"Of course."

"So let me tell you, that you should never give in to his demands on anything major that will affect his life. That boy never thinks with his head, he'd rather martyr himself then bring pain upon any other person. That's how he got himself nearly killed in the Deadlock incident last year."

Misaki was taken aback by this those memories still haunted her as she could still remember Touma being mangled by the attack that was meant to kill her.

"One day your gonna find yourself in a position where you know Kamijou helping somebody will only get him killed, but he tells you to let him go through with it anyway because he wants a happy ending for everybody. On that day you're going to have to decide what's more important Touma's happiness or his safety." Kumokawa said coldly as she starred in Misaki's eyes.

Misaki was speechless ever since the accident she was afraid. Afraid that one day something like that would happen to him again and the next time it did she wouldn't be there to help him. Touma had tried to convince her that it was just who he was and that he'd be able to handle anything thrown at him but, That didn't stop Misaki from being scared.

….

….

"Is that everything?" Misaki said coldly with her eyes devoid of light.

"Yes you can go now I wouldn't want you to be late for your curfew"

Misaki didn't react to this and simply walked out of her office.

Before Misaki left the facility to go back to her dorms, she read the minds of every researcher she passed in the halls to see if everything was on the up and up. For the most part, they were only a few complaints on how most of the researcher were annoyed at Sogiita's constant use of the word Guts. And a few other complaints on how they weren't able to figure out how his powers worked. All in All this place seemed safe enough.

* * *

**Tokiwadai Dorms**

When Misaki arrived at her dorm she was greeted by a wave of her clique members all wanting to know how it went. Misaki gave the best response and said it went superb and continued on to her dorm. While walking through the elegant hallways of the Tokiwadai dorm she ran into Misaka again she was holding a takeout bag from Joseph's.

"Misaka-san"

"Ugh. You again" Misaka groaned.

"What is that any way to greet another Tokiwadai student"

Misaka simply took a deep breath and then answered.

"You know what, even you can't ruin my good mood today Shokuhou"

"Oh did something interesting happen today? Do tell. Does this have anything to do with you stopping the graviton bombings?"

"Huh? How do you know about that?"

"Oh me. I have my sources." Misaki then gave a sly smile.

"Well, you should probably fire them, because that's not what happened at all."

"What?" Misaki was shocked. She received this information directly from Kumokawa. While Misaki hated her as a person she always secretly respected her Intel.

Misaka then started to walk away to her dorm.

"Misaka-san. It's not very nice to take the credit for something that you didn't do you know." Misaki wanted to probe some type of response from Misaka in order to get as much information as she could.

Misaka simply turned around and gave a small smile. "I wouldn't worry about that if I were you. I made sure that, that idiot is going to get everything that is coming to him" Misaka then turned right back around and headed straight for her dorm.

Misaki simply stood there confused at what Misaka meant.

(She's usually not so enigmatic, I wonder who this idiot might be. I might just have to say hello to them once I figure that out.)

Once Misaki made it into her own dorm she laid there in her silk sheets staring up at the ceiling.

"Touma's happiness or his safety huh?"

Misaki then heard the phone start to vibrate and saw a text Message from 'My Prince'.

"Thanks for the present. You're the best."

Misaki smiled "Who says I can't give him both"

* * *

**Author's Notes**

Quick question does any of you know what kind of sound Accelerator's Reflection makes.

Also, how do you make the lines that separate scenes?

What's under the floorboards?

If the YouTube reference went over a couple of your guy's head that's fine. It's supposed to be a Tai Lopez Joke. I always thought that Sogiita would be the type of person who wanted to share his guts to the world in order to inspire them to be better.

Also, Misaki is both an Idealist and a Realist on the subject with her relationship with Touma due to the fact that she was given a miracle and believes Touma can handle almost any situation he finds himself in. Kumokawa is a Realist due to the fact that she saw the darker side of Academy city and what it could do to good people.

Also, while Misaki knows about the plan to Clone Misaka she has no knowledge of project level 6 shift. She also never revealed it to Misaka due to the nature of their relationship is rocky to say the least, and she has no idea how she would react.

**Fun Facts.**

While the Gemstone research facility was built for every Gemstone, it's design was solely to accommodate Sogiita hence the large field in the center.

Sogiita YouTube channel has 2.3 million subscribers and one of those subscribers is in Touma's Class. Can you guess who?

Every time that Misaki makes a Mental Note she is actually using her ability to send herself a prerecorded message in the future using her Mental Out hence the name.

Now that that's out of the way. The next chapter will pick up where the previous chapter left off. Tune in for the next chapter.

**Zero Today Gemstone Tomorrow**


	10. Chapter 10 Zero Today Gemstone Tomorrow

**Hey guys thanks for the support and reading a certain Scientific Counter. Also, Volume 22 of a New Testament is Finally out Hooray! But it's not translated yet… Well as soon as the translation hits I'm gonna read it but until then please enjoy. Also, I love reading your comments some of them really crack me up but others help me think of ways to better improve upon the story so thank you.**

**Anti-Mage 29- Don't worry the Kami Disease will never die out.**

**Whwsms- Believe me he was not amused. Also Touma v Sogiita, when Two spikey haired boys collide a story is born.**

**Fortitude501- Yeah he has a YouTube Channel what has humanity come too. I was glad you enjoyed the chapter.**

**Team FT- Thank you. And Touma wouldn't be a fan of being in a fight with sogiita. Also thanks for the help in figuring out the scene separation.**

**Nguyen Thanh Long- No problem and Touma isn't the one to subscribe sadly he isn't a believer in the almighty power of GUTS! And thanks for the help in delivering Accelerators Reflection sound effects.**

**BlueJack22- July 20 what happens July 20th?**

**MarkGib- No problem.**

**Savior555- There is no need to fear for a new chapter is here. Don't worry we'll meet ****Othinus in like I don't know 40 arcs. Jk but no seriously she doesn't show up until November.**

**Rajarshi Sarkar- Thank you for your support but I feel as though what made Index so special in the first place is how Magic and Science collide but I will be focusing primarily on the Science side of things until we get further along. Nayuta will be a central part of a future arc but not for some time. And about Sogiita….. Shhhh I can hear a very pissed of blonde about to give everybody in her general vicinity a migraine. No, but seriously the closest male to male relationship I would have would be a friendship like Gon and Killua from Hunter x Hunter. Mostly because I have no experience in writing things like that. And Civil war….War, War never changes.**

**Guest- I did not know that that about his speech so thank you.**

**Odgom- Thanks for the help in helping me figure out Accelerators reflection sound effect. A high pitched cracking sound.**

**Graeskog****\- I'm glad you enjoyed it. Also, don't worry about Kumokawa she has other stuff going on in the background it's just that she loves messing with Misaki. And Thank you I'm glad you liked the pacing. And Yes I will be putting in some original arcs but it won't be for some time. And thank you for helping figure out how to make horizontal lines.**

**Zero Today Gemstone Tomorrow**

**July 19**

After yesterday's fiasco of the day, Touma was ready to spend his last day until summer break to its fullest. Even if the following day he would be forced to go to supplementary classes. Touma started his day by breaking open the pack of black coffee that Misaki had given him as a gift. Touma didn't know exactly where she got it, but he was glad that she did. Now that Touma had access to his morning coffee he was ready to take on the day. No matter what it threw at him. So Touma packed a few Black coffees to go in his bag and headed off to school.

As Touma made the journey to his high school he decided to pay the convenience store a visit. When he arrived there he was terrified at the site. It seemed as though someone had crashed a car through the building itself because it had a giant gaping hole in the wall and Touma could only begin to imagine the amount of damage that had occurred inside of the convenience store.

(What the hell happened here!) Touma then ran towards the manager who was currently talking to an Anti Skill officer.

"Excuse me sir do you know what happened." The manager and Anti Skill officer then turned to see Touma who was in complete and utter shock of what had happened.

"Huh? No, I have no idea what happened when I left the shop yesterday everything was fine. Then I come back today and there's a giant hole in the wall!" The manager was frantic, to say the least as this was his first time dealing with something like.

"Sir, did anything strange happen yesterday?" The Anti Skill officer was trying to get as much information as he could.

"No nothing…. Although one of my cashiers did mention one of the customers did get very…...vocal."

"About what?" Touma asked.

"Well apparently the customer told the cashier to hold a pack of black coffee for him, but the cashier says he has no memory of this and sold the Pack of coffee instead to a blonde girl."

(Blonde….uh man.)

"Did the cashier remember what the customer looked like anything would be of help." The Anti skill officer asked while writing down the man's statement.

"Well he said that the boy had moppy white hair and a very foul mouth"

"So we're looking for a senior citizen gone rouge huh?" Touma added.

"No, the customer was a boy around your age."

"My age, what kind of kid gets white hair this early on in life! What did he just skip puberty all together and head straight for the retirement home! No wonder this guy drinks so much Black coffee!"

"How did you know it was Black coffee?"

"Huh?"

"All I said was that it was a pack of Coffee I never specified which type. So how did you know?" The man then started to look suspiciously at Touma.

"Wait no you got it all wrong. It's just that I uh." Touma knew he was in a tight spot but at least the evidence pointed in his favor, I mean it's not like he has white hair or anything.

"About how tall would you say that he was." The Anti Skill officer was still writing down everything and looking at Touma suspiciously.

"I don't know about his height I guess" The man then pointed directly at Touma.

At the same time, however, a large group of students walked down by the scene and saw the old man point at Touma with an Anti Skill officer right next to him. They all stopped in order to see what was going on.

"His height you say. Hmm." The Anti Skill agent then began walking towards Touma.

"Young man, do you happen to know anything that happened here last night?" The Anti Skill officer then stood directly in front of Touma

"What. No, I didn't have anything to do with this I swear." Touma then raised his hands in the air only to reveal a slight indent in his bag that was made by the coffee that he had brought with him.

"What this" The Anti Skill officer then pulled out a black coffee from Touma's bag.

"Hey, you can't do that."

"Sir is this the brand of coffee in question that you were talking about earlier?" The Anti skill officer then presented the black coffee to the manager for confirmation.

"YES, THAT'S IT" The manager then grabbed the coffee to inspect it.

"Do you have anything to say for yourself young man." The Anti Skill officer now looming over Touma.

"No you don't get it, that was a gift. I would never do something like this honest. Besides this isn't the only store that sells this brand of black coffee anyway so." Touma then started to back up from the officer.

"LIAR! While it's true that we are not the only store that carries this brand of coffee we were the only store to get a shipment of this coffee yesterday due to the Wind Turbine breaking down. As you can see the label is colored (differently) than normal. That's because the manufacturers were trying to use brighter colors in order to boost sales on this brand of coffee. But the labels were only just recently produced and were being shipped out yesterday.

"So that means." The man then began to look menacingly at Touma.

"Wait a minute he said it himself the guy had moppy white hair." Touma then pulled on his hair showing that it was black. "See not a single white hair in sight and perfectly spiky."

While Touma was trying to prove his innocence a young girl then stepped forward from the crowd of students she had long hair and wore a dark-colored ribbon on her head, making her look like a rabbit. She was wearing a raggedy-looking sleeveless shirt along with a studded belt. Touma couldn't deny that he thought she was cute.

"That doesn't prove anything. See" The young girl then pulled out a spray can of some sort.

"What's that" The Anti Skill officer then turned towards the girl.

"It's a can of hair coloring spray. It's able to temporarily change the amount of melanin in one's hair effectively chaining one's hair color."

"Huh, you can't be serious" Touma then started to panic as more and more evidence started to pile on to him.

"There's one way to test it out" The young girl pointed out while rummaging through her school bag yet again. She eventually pulled out another can of spray.

"This is a can of cleanser, it's able to get rid of any cosmetics that might have been in someone's hair it's used primarily when one wants to get rid of the effects of the hair coloring spray. However, it's harmless if you spray it on somebody who's never used the same brand" The young girl then handed the Anti Skill officer the spray can.

"I see. Do you object if we use the spray on you?"

"Well, I."

"However if you do object I will have no other option than to hold you for questioning until we can get the cashier in question back here."

(Well it's either take a little spray in the head or spend some quality time with the thugs in Anti Skill's holding cell. What's the worst that could happen) Touma would immediately regret ever even thinking that.

"Fine if it will get you off my back"

The Anti Skill agent then started to spray the can of cleanser on Touma's head. However unknown to Touma and the rest of the people present, the same brand of cleanser that young girl handed to the Anti Skill officer happens to be the same brand that Touma uses to make his hair spiky.

Touma's hair immediately started to fall down from its spiky form, making it look as though he had moppy hair.

"Well, I guess we got our guy" The young girl proclaimed as she looked at the Anti-skill officer.

"FREEZE! You're under arrest or the destruction of private property!" The Anti Skill officer grabbed Touma and started to cuff him and lead him to the Anti Skill holding van.

"NO, YOU GOT IT ALL WRONG I SWEAR THIS IS ALL JUST A BIG MISUNDERSTANDING!"

"I guess what they say is true, The culprit will always return to the scene of the crime" The young girl proclaimed.

"OH, YOU ARE SO NOT HELPING YOU, RABBIT GIRL!" The young girl then turned towards Touma to yell back only to see Touma with his moppy black hair and couldn't help but think that he looked cuter without it spiky and blushed.

The shop owner then gasped." It's the foul mouth the cashier was talking about earlier. It's definitely him!"

"NO PLEASE YOU GOT IT ALL WRONG! SUCH MISFORTUNE!" The Anti Skill officer then through Touma in the back of the Anti Skill holding Van and slammed the door in his face.

"Thank you for your help ma'am we could have never done it without your help can I please have your name."

The young girl then snapped out of her fantasies with Touma. "Huh, oh right my name is Tobio Yumi. There's no need to thank me I'm just doing my job". Yumi then pulled out a judgment arm bag from her bag and placed it on her arm. "See, I'm part of Judgment's 105th Branch Office."

"Well thank you. If it wasn't for you that hoodlum would've still been free on the streets to do god knows what to someone else." The manager said while shaking Yumi's hand.

"Uh okay. Your welcome" Soon the entire crowd began cheering for Yumi for catching the culprit.

(Ugh why do bad boy have to be so damn cute) Yumi lamented.

* * *

**Anti Skill holding cell.**

**2 hours later**

Touma had spent the last 2 hours in an Anti Skill holding cell (lucky enough for him it was empty).

(Why me. This was supposed to be a good day. Instead, I'm arrested for destruction of property public endangerment, lying to an Anti Skill officer and inflicting severe emotional trauma (The last one was for the cashier who was still inside the building when the incident took place). When I see that white hair kid I swear I'm gonna kick his ass for what he's done.)

At first, Touma proceeds to continue to pace up and down the cell in order to keep sane. The worst part about being arrested was that Anti Skill took his phone and refused to let him have a phone call in order to get help. Touma then decided to lay down on the cell bench in order to sleep so that time would go by faster only to be woken up by an Anti Skill officer yelling at him.

"Get up hoodlum you have a visitor!" Touma then jumped up from the bench and turned towards the officer.

"Huh, who is it?" Touma then began walking to the door to the holding cell.

"Shut up! If you try anything funny we won't hesitate to take you down!"

"Okay jeez" Touma then raised his hands and was escorted towards the visiting area only to find his teacher there.

"Komoe-sensei what are you doing here" Touma then began to walk faster toward his teacher only to be stopped by more yelling.

"FREEZE!" The Anti Skill officer then pointed a taser gun at Touma's back.

"AHH AHH"

"AAA HHH PLEASE DON'T SHOOT MY STUDENT!" Komoe screamed.

The reason that all the Anti Skill agents were so on edge was that they all thought Touma was a high-level esper capable of destroying the building with ease.

"PLEASE I DIDN'T MEAN IT!" Touma pleaded with the Anti Skill officer. Until he heard the voice of another one of his teachers.

"LOWER YOUR WEAPONS THIS INSTANT!" Yomikawa Aiho yelled.

"Yomikawa-sensei why are you here," Touma asked as the Anti-skill officer lowered his Taser gun.

After things settled down Touma sat at the visitor's table with his teachers.

"Well, Kamijou looks like you got yourself arrested," Yomikawa said as she chuckled.

"It's not Funny. Besides, how did you guys even find out?"

"Well, whenever a student is arrested, its procedure to contact their school in order to notify them of what had occurred.' Yomikawa explained, "So when miss Komoe over here was notified in the middle of class she immediately ran to get me."

"Wait you were notified in the middle of class. Does that mean?"

"I'm afraid so. Everyone in the class knows about your arrest, but I was sure to tell them that it wasn't your fault" Komoe-sensei said frantically.

"Yeah, your class is giving you all sorts of nicknames like the caffeine criminal or the unlucky brew," Yomikawa said as she continued to laugh.

"Not Funny! Besides, why did they think that I did it? I'm a level 0 they should have known that it would've been impossible for someone like me to do that" Touma cried.

"Oh, that's something else we were meaning to tell you Kamijou-san it appears that you are no longer registered as a level 0."

"WHAAT!"

"SHH calm down you don't want them drawing their stun guns on you again, do you," Yomikawa said.

"Sorry, but what do you mean that I'm not a level 0 anymore."

"Well apparently Academy City has decided to name you as a Gemstone"

"A Gemstone?"

"People who are born with powers. That's why the officers were so on edge with you around the only other Gemstone that they know of is the seventh-ranked level 5" Yomikawa clarified.

"Great so now I'm guilty by association" Touma then placed his head down on the table as his whole world started to fall apart.

"Hey, it's not so bad. Shape up at least I can get you outta here without having it affects your records." Yomikawa said in an attempt to cheer up Touma.

"Just leave me to the wolves. My life is over anyway." Touma lamented.

"Oh come on Kamijou-san now's not the time to give up, it's the time to push forward," Komoe said in an attempt to cheer up Touma.

Touma looked up and then sighed.

…

"Nope sorry. I don't buy it" Touma then put his head back down on the table and started to emit an aura of depression.

"Well look on the bright side at least we can make it back to school in time for the last few periods," Komoe said

….

After a few more minutes at unsuccessfully trying to cheer Touma up, Yomikawa eventually gave up and went to the arresting Anti Skill officer and explained the entire situation to him. They eventually dropped the charges however the officer wasn't very apologetic to Touma since he knew that Touma knew something.

After getting all of Touma's belonging from lockup they decided to make their way back up to a certain high school. However, before they arrived Touma asked them to stop at a local chain store, so he could buy something. So he grabbed an Anti Skill hat from Yomikawa car and headed inside.

When Touma returned from the chain store his hair was spiky once more. He had gone in there, so he could style his hair back to be spiky.

"Back to spiky, I see. Gotta say you looked better without it" Yomikawa commented.

"Nah it looks cooler this way."

"Oh I completely forgot that I never saw you without your hair being spiky I knew something was different" Komoe said in awe of the revelation she had just seen.

* * *

**A Certain High School.**

Once Touma had arrived at his school he dreaded the walk up to his class he could hear it now all the jokes at his misfortune. Once Touma had arrived at his class he was immediately swarmed by most of the girls in the class who asked if he was okay and what had happened much to the dismay of all the boys in the classroom.

"Well if it isn't our little jailbird how was the slammer?" Tsuchimikado said while laughing at Touma.

"I always knew that Kami would end up in prison but I for sure guessed that it would be for quarantine in order to stop the Kami disease from spreading, who would have guessed it would have been for coffee." Aogami teased.

"So Kami was it worth it," Tsuchimikado asked while looking Touma dead in the eyes.

"Oh shut up! I didn't even do anything they just arrested me because I just so happened to buy the same brand of coffee as the guy who did do it!"

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA" Every boy in the entire class began to laugh at Touma's misfortune.

(I swear I'm gonna get that white-haired guy back for what he's done)

After the class settled down they resumed their normal class schedule. After a while, his class even stopped making jokes about Touma's coffee arrest or at least some of them did anyway.

"What do you want," Touma said as he stared down at Tsuchimikado as he started to approach him.

"Woah there I didn't wanna wake angry Kami" Tsuchimikado then placed a black coffee on his desk. "Here you go, can I have nice Kami back please." Tsuchimikado then grinned widely.

"Screw you Siscon" Touma wasn't about to be baited in now.

"Ah, there he is, good old Kami. It's just, I just got some information that I thought you might want to hear."

"What is it, and I swear to god if it's another one of you."

"Trust me Kami, Would I ever steer you wrong"

Touma simply answered his question with a sharp glare.

"Point taken, but I think you'll want to hear this, apparently there's this rumor going around about a Level upper"

"Level upper? What the hell is that?"

"Well apparently it's this thing that if you use it can boost your level"

"Bull#$ %"

"Nah honest. And it just so happens that."

"No way did you actually get your hands on it!" Touma shouldn't have raised his voice because a certain girl heard them.

"SHH. Kami do you want the entire class to hear you" Tsuchimikado whispered.

"Look I don't actually have it but what I do have is some information that you'd like to see." Tsuchimikado then reached inside his jacket and pulled out a picture.

"Before I show this to you, you gotta promise me that you won't freak out okay."

"What the hell are you talking about just show me." Touma then grabbed the pictures from his hands and examined it. It was a picture of him and Misaka walking together while she was leading him to the Judgement office.

"WHAT THE F-." Tsuchimikado then put his hand over Touma's mouth to stop him from screaming.

"Look Kami calm down I know what you think this is and I promise you that it's not" Touma then smacked Tsuchimikado's hand off his mouth.

"What'd you mean?"

"Look word on the street is the Misaka Mikoto is a huge fan of Gekota merchandise here take this to bribe her to leave you alone." Tsuchimikado then handed him a Gekota makeup pouch.

"What the hell is this"

"Well, Kami I believe it's what you're gonna use to bribe this chick to leave you alone."

"Why are you giving this to me though?"

Tsuchimikado then leaned in a started to whisper is softer.

"Well I don't know if you know this but apparently Misaka Mikoto and Shokuhou Misaki have a little feud going on right now and you might be the ignition that starts something"

"Like what?"

"Civil war Kami. I don't think you understand your position all that well, if Shokuhou ever finds out about Misaka then it's game over man. Think about it imagine two level 5s duking it out across all academy city, the masses would find themselves up in arms with Shokuhou leading them while Misaka would probably launch an electrical strike that would send Academy city back into the dark ages." Touma did imagine it and it was not pretty.

"Okay, so what I just go up to her and be like 'hey can you stop harassing me here have this makeup pouch'" Touma's eyes were darting around the room trying to see if anyone was watching them.

"Well yeah, I would do it myself but I'm not electrically insulated like some people" Tsuchimikado then looked over at Touma's right hand.

"AGH fine. I knew something like this was bound to happen eventually but bribery doesn't that seem a bit dirty".

"Look Kami it's this or you to tell Shokuhou yourself"

"Fine" Touma grabbed the Gekota pouch and quickly stuffed it into his bag before anyone could notice however someone did.

Touma and Tsuchimikado then suddenly felt aura malice and rage different from anything that they had seen before.

"I knew you both were moronic but this takes it to a whole different level." Fukiyose Seiri said in a menacing voice. She was under the assumption that Tsuchimikado was giving Touma the Level Upper.

"No Fukiyose you got it all GAWAH!" Before Tsuchimikado could continue to make his case he was decked out by Fukiyose and was sent flying across the room until he landed unconsciously on the floor.

"No, wait!" Touma then quickly tried to scramble away from the very pissed off health nut and frantically searched through his bag in order to show her the Gekota pouch. But right when Touma was able to get his hands on it, it was already too late. Fukiyose had closed the distance that Touma put between them and launched her fist full force at the suspected druggie.

"GWAH!" Touma was sent flying crashing into the desks that filled the classroom while still holding onto the Gekota pouch in his hand for all to see.

Touma was able to stay conscious for long enough to hear the laughter of his classmates.

"Such misfortune" Touma weakly said as he drifted into unconsciousness.

* * *

**A certain Nurses Office.**

After Touma and Tsuchimikado were decked out by Fukiyose without mercy or hesitation they were transported to the school infirmary to recover after that brutal one-sided massacre. They were unconscious for the rest of the school-day only being woken up by the final bell.

"What. Where am I" Touma then sat up from the bed he was laying on and turned over to see Tsuchimikado who was still unconscious.

"Oh yeah this is all your fault"

Touma then looked over at the counter next to him to see his belongings laid out there including the Gekota pouch. Touma got up from the bed and headed over to collect his belongings. He then checked his phone only to see he had several missed messages from 'Golden Girl' along with missed calls.

This immediately sent Touma into a panic it was normal if Touma missed a few messages here and there but if he were to miss several phone calls as well. That told Misaki that something was wrong. Touma then quickly grabbed his phone and called Misaki.

"My Prince are you alright!"

"Yeah, everything's okay Misaki. Sorry about missing your calls. It's just that I was a little preoccupied you see."

"Preoccupied"

"Yeah"

"Are you sure you weren't lying unconscious on the ground"

Touma immediately froze at this

"How did you"

The door to the nurse's office then opened to see Misaki who was not very pleased, to say the least.

"So this is how you were preoccupied"

"Uhhh" Touma then turned around to see that Tsuchimikado had already left and taken his stuff with him.

(Coward.)

If Touma knew one thing about Misaki it's that she hated it when he would omit the truth from her just to protect her.

"So what really happened" Misaki then sat in the bed that Touma was originally lying on looking Touma directly in the eyes.

Touma then let out a sigh as he had to explain to Misaki everything that had happened to him today.

"Do you want the long version or the short version" Touma tried to lighten the mood with a joke but like always it was met with poor reception as Misaki simply stared at him.

"Okay well first you know the coffee that you bought yesterday as a gift"

"Yes, what about it?"

"You wouldn't have happened to use your powers to get it would you?"

Misaki instantly turned red as she knew that she did. This reaction told Touma everything that he needed to know.

"So you did"

"Well, I had to. The cashier refused to sell me the coffee!"

"Why do you think he refused to sell you the coffee in the first place it was because somebody else reserved it"

"You can't reserve a pack of coffee, it's first come first served the other boy would just have to live without his coffee for the next few days."

"Well it seems like the other guy didn't take the news of his coffee being taken very lightly"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, apparently the guy kinda freaked out and made a giant hole where the convenience store used to be."

"What!? Are you okay is that why you're here!?"

"No, I'm here because I listened to that damned Siscon. But I did run into some trouble on my way here".

"What kind of trouble?"

"Well, I kinda got arrested for what…."Touma was immediately cut off by Misaki jumping off the bed onto her feet.

"You got arrested!"

"Yeah, but I didn't do anything I just got blamed for the whole incident because I just so happen to drink the same brand of coffee as the other guy."

Misaki then sighed.

"So in a way, this is all my fault." Misaki then looked at the floor distraught at what she had just learned because she misused her powers her Prince was arrested.

'Hey don't look so down. My teacher managed to get the charges dropped at least. Oh, that reminds me I have something that I need to tell you."

"What is it" Misaki raised her head to make eye contact with Touma.

"Well I don't know how it happened but apparently I got registered as a Gemstone."

"How did you find out!?"

"Huh, you don't seem that surprised. Did you already know about this?"

"Yes, that's why I wanted to talk to you yesterday."

"Do you know how this happened. I mean yesterday I was a level 0 and now I'm a Gemstone, I mean what the heck are they thinking."

"Well I don't exactly know why they decided to change your status either" Misaki was partially lying because while she didn't know exactly why Touma's ranked change she knew it had something to do with him fighting a strong esper.

"But I do have this" Misaki then handed Touma a folder.

"What this?"

"It's everything you need to know about your status change to a Gemstone."

Touma then walked over to his bag and pulled out a similar folder from his bag except it was much thicker.

"Uh, Touma what's that?"

"Oh it's just Komoe-sensei already gave me one of these but thanks anyway I appreciate it. She also gave me the basic rundown on how it will majorly affect my everyday life."

"But how did she."

"Oh, Komoe-sensei said she got an email from the Gemstone Research facility with this as an attachment. I guess they give this to everybody whose named a Gemstone huh….Misaki are you okay" Touma then saw Misaki look very angry for some reason.

(You old hag. I swear I'm gonna get you back for this) Misaki thought to herself.

"No, but seriously Touma, are you, okay I mean this is a big change in your life you know?"

"I know and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't freaking out but part of me knows that I'll be alright"

"If you ever need anything I'm always right here"

"I know" Touma then hugged Misaki, he could smell the scent of honey that she emanated and it was refreshing.

Touma then thought that this was the perfect time to come clean to Misaki about his run-ins with Zapper.

"Hey Misaki"

"Yes, my prince" Misaki then looked up at Touma who she was currently embracing.

"Do you know anybody called the Railgun?"

Misaki instantly let him go and looked at him with a serious expression on her face.

"Why do you want to know"

(Yeah I probably should've figured that was a bad idea)

"Oh it's just Tsuchimikado mentioned that she went to your school and that your friends"

"It's true that Misaka and I go to Tokiwadai but I would hardly call us friends."

"Why aren't you guys friends anyway?"

Misaki simply gave Touma a look that told him everything that he needed to know.

"Got it"

Misaki then helped Touma gather up his stuff, and they both headed outside.

"So what do you wanna do now?"

"Well originally I planned on surprising you at your school to take you to eat, so we could talk about you being a Gemstone but now"

"Nah it's fine, where do you wanna go to eat

Misaki then gave a warm smile "Well I've been hearing some good things about a restaurant nearby. Do you want to check it out?"

"Sure."

* * *

**A Certain Diner.**

Once Touma and Misaki made it to the dinner they took a booth near the entrance. Touma ordered a hellish Goya and escargot lasagna while Misaki ordered a parfait along with seven veggie salad. Misaki had already eaten before this, so she decided to skip the main course. So while the two of them waited for their order to arrive Touma decided to kill some time by talking.

"So how did your day go yesterday?" Touma asked.

"Huh. Oh, well as you know I spent most of my day trying to find as much information as possible about being a Gemstone for you."

"Thank you again for that."

"It was no trouble at all really. Oh, but I also ran into someone who could help you better transition into becoming a Gemstone."

"Really who?"

Misaki let out a small sigh as she remembered how Sogiita mannerisms.

"Tell me, have you ever heard of a person by the name of Sogiita Gunha?"

"Oh, you mean the guy from YouTube?"

"Wait you don't actually watch his videos do you?" Misaki had a visible look of concern on her face.

"No, but one of my classmates Fukiyose used to be into his videos I remember the one video, it showed you how you could better your life with guts. She's a health nut and I guess she thought he was like a diet expert or something like. After a while, she just lost interest and moved on."

"Oh yeah, I remember her." Misaki was well aware that Fukiyose would often inflict harm on Touma, but she let it slide mostly due to the fact that she would only do it when he congregated towards the rest of the Delta Force.

"So Touma how did your day go yesterday."

(Oh you know I got a bomb strapped to my hand then I got chased around by an electric fiend and then to top it all off I got captured by a judgment agent turned rogue.)

"Well I helped a little girl find her way to the mall"

"Which one"

"The Seventh Mist Mall"

"Did you and the little girl make it out okay. I heard that a bomb went off in there."

"Yeah I'm fine and so is the little girl we were lucky that Zapper caught the guy"

…

"I'm sorry did you just say Zapper?"

….

(F&*$)

"Yeah, why?" Touma was now getting more and more nervous.

"Whose Zapper?"

"Oh well, you see…" At that moment Touma used all of his processing ability to try to find a way out of this Gordian Knot of a problem that he had just caused. "Mikoto Misaka"

Misaki was visibly shocked at what Touma had just told her.

"How do you know her name?" Misaki said while trying her best to keep her composure.

"Well you see yesterday after the bombing I wondered who actually caught the bomber, so I asked Tsuchimikado, and he said it was Misaka Mikoto the Railgun, and he said that the two of you went to the same school together."

"Oh, that makes sense"

"By the way do you think you could tell her thank you for me." Touma knew that this was a bad idea, but he had to make it as believable as possible.

"That won't be necessary yesterday when I met Misaka she said that she wasn't the one who actually stopped the bomber."

"Oh really" (Oh no!)

"No, but rest assured I'll find out who really stopped the bombing so you can thank them yourself" Misaki then let out a warm smile.

"Thanks" (Oh god what did I just do)

After a few more minutes of talking Misaki's phone started to ring it was Junko calling.

"If you'll please excuse me for just one moment" Misaki then got up from the booth to take the call.

Misaki then returned to the booth.

"I'm so sorry but I have to go"

"What is everything okay?"

"Everything's fine there's no need to worry my Prince it's just that I need to give my clique a meeting on this new thing called Level upper apparently it's been going around and Junko is worried that if nothing is done then it's going to hit Tokiwadai too."

"Oh I heard about that so what are you gonna do?"

"What I do best, manipulate the masses into doing what's best." Misaki then gave a small smile "Without using my powers I promise".

"Okay then do you want to walk you home?"

"That's sweet but I'd feel bad since you didn't have anything to eat today did you?"

Touma then realized that Misaki was right the people from Anti Skill never gave him anything to eat and when he finally got to class it was already past lunch and Fukiyose knocked him out before he could have a snack.

"That's fine I wasn't that hungry anyway" Touma's stomach then betrayed him as it growled loudly unhappy that he was trying to skip out on another meal.

Misaki then gave Touma another smile "Really it fine. Enjoy the meal I'll be sure to pay for us before I leave" Misaki then leaned in to give Touma a kiss on the lips and then headed off.

Touma then waved her off and as she left the restaurant and then sat back down.

(Man how did I ever end up so….) Before Touma could finish that thought his order finally arrived and the waitress put his meal in front of him.

(Well Look at the bright side Kamijou at least you can finally rest easy and finally enjoy a well-deserved meal) Just as Touma was about to start eating the universe thought it would be funny to say Nah.

Another waitress carrying drinks to another table next to him tripped and spilled all the drinks on him. The waitress apologized profusely but Touma didn't really seem to mind since he was used to this sorta thing happening to him, he was just glad that Misaki wasn't here because she was the type of person who did not take kindly to this sort of thing. The waitress then leads Touma to the back to hand him a Towel to clean himself off while she went over to clean the table.

After he finished wiping himself off he heard someone's head bang on a table when Touma turned around he saw Shirai. Red Flags immediately started to go off in his head telling him to run for his dear life, but then he heard the sound of a girl beginning to cry. Touma then saw Zapper in front of a group of thugs, and she was crying he knew it was her probably faking but even so he couldn't just stand by and let this go on.

Touma then walked up to the group of three thugs. "Hey now boys don't tell me it takes all three of you just to rob a girl"

The thug who Misaka was talking to then turned his attention to Touma. "Who the hell do you even think you are?"

"Do you even know where you are, it's called a restaurant where people are eating. If you're that desperate for a girlfriend go run home and play your stupid gal games!" Touma knew he had no right to use gal games in any argument since he only stopped playing after Misaki asked him not to, but he wasn't going to admit it to this guy.

"WHAT'D YOU SAY!"

"Besides she's not that kinda girl anyway. Trust me" Touma was trying to show these thugs reason but instead he thought he meant something else.

"So that's what this is, I guess we're gonna have to kick you a## now" Just then all three thugs got up from their seat.

"Pft bring it on"

(Pfft three on one piece of cake)

Just then however the door to the boys' bathroom opened and six more thugs came out.

"No way I thought only girls went to the bathroom together!"

"Still think you can take us all on, empty your wallet, and we'll consider-" The thug then looked up and saw that Touma had already left the building and was currently sprinting down the road.

All the thugs then gave chase to the now flee Touma in hopes of beating him up for disrespecting them. However due to all of his experiences of being chased he easily got away from their line of sight. However, he could hear the sound off lightning in the distance and ran towards the park in hopes of losing her there.

* * *

**A Certain Park.**

Touma was running at full speed and while he couldn't see her due to it still being dark out, Touma knew better than to just hope that she gave up. The way Touma ran, however, was frantic, to say the least, due to the fact that the only light being provided was from the moon, so he put both of his hands in front of him in case he ran into a wall or something, so he could have some warning in advance before impact. However, due to this he accidentally ran into another boy pushing him down to the ground. The sound of Glass breaking could be heard when he made an impact on the boy.

(The Moon? What the hell am I doing looking at the moon? Is it because I'm flat on my back. Wait how? Is it because of him? That shouldn't be possible. WHY! WHY!) The white-haired boy then looked at Touma with a slight daze.

"OH my god are you okay," Touma asked while sticking his right hand to help the boy off the ground.

The boy responded by smacking Touma's right-hand away. Although he looked very surprised when he did it almost like he was expecting something to happen.

"What the F*&* did you do"

"I'm so sorry it's just it was so dark and I-" Touma then saw what the boy was carrying a pack of black coffee, and then he finally got a good look at the boy he had moppy white hair and had a foul mouth. "It's you." Touma then raised his finger at the boy who was currently picking himself up.

(TCH another one.) The boy was used to getting into fights, although this one seemed off as it was the first time he was actually pushed to the ground. "Fine then bring it-"

"You're the A$$##%$ who keeps stealing all my coffee!" Touma then pointed at the pack of coffee that was still on the floor.

"HUH!" The white-haired boy was shocked, to say the least at the sudden turn of events one minute he thinks he's getting into a fight the next he's being accused of stealing coffee.

"What the hell are you talking about I bought this at…. Wait a minute are you the dumb# & who keeps breaking the f%#$#% packs".

"YEAH! And you know what I'd do it again do you have any idea at the amount of S# # you caused me."

'What F%$# are you saying!"

"Because of you I failed my class and I got chewed out by Misaki and to top it all off I got arrested for something that I didn't even do!"

"What the F$ are you even talking about!"

Touma then took a minute to catch his breath and to gather his thoughts the white-haired boy decided to do the same.

"So were you the guy who made a giant hole in the wall at that convince store?"

"Yeah, so what?"

"So what-. You don't just destroy a convenience store just because they run out of Black coffee."

"Screw off. It was their own fault for selling my pack of coffee, and then that F$#% $#& cashier has the nerve to tell me he doesn't remember".

(Ugh Misaki why.)

"Look I get it. It was a pretty scummy move on their part but that doesn't give you the right to go ahead and destroy their shop".

"TCH"

"Well, in any case, I'm sorry for lashing out at you early," Touma said earnestly.

"Huh?"

"Yeah, it just that It's been a …. Stressful day to say the least."

"..." The white-haired boy just stood there in shock (Why the hell is this kid apologizing)

"Hey! Why the hell were you running like lunatic earlier?" The white-haired boy asked.

"Huh?" Touma then remembered why he was running in the first place and turned pale. "You gotta run man!"

"What?"

"Trust me if she catches you it not gonna be pretty!" Touma then started to run.

"What the hell are you talking about!?"

Touma turned around and gave the best explanation he could. "I'm being bullied by a middle school girl I don't how better to explain it than that!" Touma then ran full sprint away from the boy.

"WHAT THE F$#% DOES THAT EVEN MEAN!" This leads the white-haired boy to have even more questions about what just happened. But before he could give chase he got a message on his phone telling him that it was time for another experiment.

(TCH. This isn't over kid)

* * *

**A Certain Bridge**

Touma ran as fast as humanly possible to outrun Misaka and decided to catch his breath of the bridge. However, this was a mistake as he could hear the sound of electricity.

BOOOOOOOM!

Touma turned around to see a beam of orange and white light. It was almost like an instinct that his left hand reacted and blocked the impact. It was like he had done this before. The sound of something reverbing could be heard as another beam of orange and white light shot out of his left hand pointed at the sky in order to not destroy any property this time.

"So it was you" Misaka was walking towards Touma with a sharp glare.

"What are you talking about?"

"August 30th, I shot my Railgun at a makeshift bomb shelter only to have my shot ricochet off the bunker shooting it back at me."

"Huh?" Touma had no idea what Misaka was talking about anymore.

"You know ever since that day something never sat right with me you know, I knew there was no way that the bomb shelter could've actually reflected my Railgun, but now I know."

"Look I have no idea what you're talking about"

"Pft. Quit lying already is that why you only negated my attacks up until now because you thought that I would remember."

Touma had no idea if what she was saying was true or not, he honestly couldn't remember.

"Look I'm sorry if your attack got reflected and it scared you or something"

"I wasn't scared!"

"Okay. But I'm a level 0" Touma completely forgot that he was just named a Gemstone.

"LIAR! Uiharu looked up your file earlier today and I saw that you were actually a Gemstone! Because of you, Uiharu got in trouble for looking up your file!"

Touma was shocked he didn't want anybody to get in trouble because of him. "I'm so sorry, but you gotta, believe me, I was only just recently named a Gemstone. Is your friend okay?"

"Uiharu's fine she just got yelled at"

"That's good." Touma then started to walk away only to be stopped by an electrical spear being shot at him, lucky for him his sixth sense kicked in, and he negated it before it could hit him.

"Ha" Touma then started to laugh

"What so funny?"

"Nothing it's just that I always thought that I had no luck but you. You have some serious bad luck."

"What are you talking about."

"No matter how much you attack me it won't work. Carrying on like this would be a waste of time.' Touma remembered that he still had the Gekota makeup pouch on him and was planning to use it to bribe Misaka to let him go. However, Misaka interpreted this in a different way.

"You know what your right."

"Really?"

"All this time I was holding back afraid that I might hurt somebody" Suddenly a thunder cloud began to form above their heads.

"A thundercloud" Touma began sweating bullets at the sight of this.

"No, if you do that then every piece of electronic around here will get" Suddenly a monstrous sized thunderbolt shot out from the Thunder cloud headed straight for Touma. The sound of glass breaking was heard along with all the lights in the area being turned off.

* * *

**Tokiwadai Dorms.**

Misaki had just finished giving a speech to her clique members about not using Level upper. And her clique responded by giving her a standing ovation.

"That was so moving my Queen," Junko said as she was clapping.

"It was nothing, I just." Suddenly all the light turned off.

"Somehow I know this is Misaka's fault," Misaki said under her breath.

* * *

**July 20**

Touma managed to shake Misaka after running from her for another hour straight. Although he had a hard time finding his way home since all the street light went out. When he finally arrived home however he was sad, to say the least as all his electronics were destroyed even his fridge. So Touma decided to eat all the leftovers he had since it was going to go bad anyway and went to sleep. When Touma woke up however he was covered in sweat and so was his futon, the blackout also caused his AC to go out and it was as hot as a sauna in his dorm.

"Ugh, this is all your fault zapper" Touma then decided to check his apartment to see the full extent of the damages. It was a good thing Touma decided to eat as much as he could because his refrigerator was now leaking water from all the ice and frozen food he kept stored in there.

Touma cleaned up as best he could before he had to go to his supplementary classes. Once he cleaned the apartment he remembered that his futon was still wet from his sweat, so he had to put it outside to air dry on the balcony. So he went over to his balcony to open the sliding door only to see something already on the railing of his balcony.

(Huh did I already put it out to dry?)

Touma then went to investigate further and noticed that it wasn't a futon.

(No that…. A GIRL and is she a Nun) Touma saw that she was wearing a white and gold habit.

Suddenly the girl lifted her head to reveal her face she had silvery white hair, and he could see her bright green eyes he could also tell that she was a foreigner.

"No way is this real"

Suddenly the girl spoke.

"... I'm so Hungry".

* * *

**Author's Notes**

When Accelerator attacked the convenience store it was during the night shift so the cashier was the only one in the shop, but Accelerator made sure that he saw **everything but, he wasn't physically injured**.

**Fun Facts**

Uiharu had to write a 20-page apology letter to the staff at the Gemstone Research facility as punishment for looking up information about Touma without permission.

Kihara Nayuta is a judgment officer but also works part-time at the Gemstone research facility.

The brand hair gel Touma uses also produces other cosmetics such as color changing contacts as well as eyeliners.

When Komoe-sensei heard the news that Touma got arrested she fainted and that is why it took her 2 hours to go and pick him up.

Tune in next Time for

**Index**


	11. Chapter 11 Index

**Hey everybody thank you for your support and for reading A Certain Scientific Counter. And thank you for leaving a review it really helps me see how I can improve upon my writing. Also Index season 3 is almost over and once it ends we will either get A certain Scientific Railgun or Accelerator both are gonna be great. Also the Start of Summer arc has ended and now it is the start of the Index Arc. Now for Q&A**

**Whwsms- So you shall see.**

**Anti-Mage 29- Thank you for the compliment and yes I will be following the official timeline however I will be shifting one event in particular in order to fit the story I'm trying to create. Also long live the Kami-yan disease, well see about how Misaki reacts to Index? And about Touma's memories…..I don't remember.**

**MarkGib- I have to agree with you there however this was to be expected it's Kamijou we're talking about.**

**BlueJack22- Don't worry I'll do Deep blood and the Sister's arc in due time.**

**Awardedall- Thank you for the compliment.**

**Fortitude501- No Touma meets Index on July 20th he takes refuge at Komoe's place on July 23rd. And I am going to shift up the timeline but not yet.**

**Nguyen Thanh Long- Don't worry that ship is a sturdy as the Titanic it's unsinkable.**

**Sergio644- True I also think that Touma should tell her but even in the light novels, he didn't say a word about it to anybody because he doesn't like to have people bare his burdens for him. However, you did give me an idea with the Dorm Manager angle so Thank you.**

**Rajarshi Sarkar- SNAP. Unabara Mitsuki- Hamazura. I don't feel so good I don't-" Turns to dust.**

**No but seriously thank you for the ideas, however on the matter of Accelerator I know he has his problem like 10,000 of them and lets never forget about problem 10031 rest in peace. But that's because ever since he was a kid he was made to think that all he was ever good for was his ability, an ability that literally pushed everybody away from him and prevented him from forming any sort of healthy relationship which caused him to have a negative outlook on society as a whole. Also, I finally read A certain powerful level zero and I see where you're coming from. **

**Savior555- Don't be scared.**

**Creus- Thank you for the compliment. **

**The guy- Thank you for the high praise I also read a certain infinite possibility and that along with a certain strange addition helped me write this.**

**Ghost are You- Poor Touma? Serious I mean really the man has women falling for him and seriously. More like poor Misaki I mean she has to work overtime to make sure nobody tries to steal him away.**

**Index**

**July 20**

When Touma heard the young girl speak he was shocked, to say the least. Not only because she spoke perfect Japanese but due to the fact that out of all the things she could have said she told him that she was hungry. What kind of person is this girl and how did she get here on his seventh story balcony? However, before Touma could think about it anymore she spoke again.

"How many times do I have to tell you that I'm hungry?" The silver-haired girl seemed to be upset that Touma was just standing there frozen. "It would be great if you could feed me enough food to fill me up."

Touma not wanting to deal with this attempted to give a spoiled her a spoiled yakisoba-pan. This strange girl was sure she to run off once she caught a whiff of the sour smell. However, she did not.

"Thank you. And it's time to eat." Her mouth engulfed it, wrapping and all. This also included Touma's hand which caused Touma to scream in pain.

* * *

Once Touma managed to get his hand free from the vice grip of a chomp that the little girl had, he decided that it'd be best to give her a proper meal. So using his culinary skills and the non-perishables he had in his shelves, he made the girl a makeshift trail mix that includes assorted nuts dried fruit and honey to appease her. The girl was more than happy to take the offering and proceed to devour the entire thing in less than a second. Once she finished eating they decided to make their introduction.

"Hey my names Kamijou Touma"

"My name is Index."

"What? Are you serious, what kind of name is Index? What is that like a nickname or something?"

"Yes actually it's short for Index Librorum Prohibitorum and my magic name is Dedicatus545."

(Jeez and I thought Misaki's name was a mouthful how many characters are even in that name! Wait did she just say magic?)

"So why were you hanging out to dry on my balcony? And what's this about magic?"

"I fell. I was trying to jump from rooftop to rooftop."

"What are you crazy! One wrong step and you'd be headed straight to hell." Touma reprimanded Index.

"But I had no choice. I had no other way to escape."

"Escape? Were you being chased or someone?"

"Yes but I don't know their name yet. ... They aren't the type to find meaning in names."

"They? Who exactly is chasing you?" Touma was starting to get nervous he had just met this girl less than a few minutes ago and now she told him she was being targeted by an evil organization. What kind of psycho's would do such a thing?

"A magic society or a magic cabal" Index said with a straight face.

"HUH!?" This girl immediately lost all credibility to Touma. To him, it was more likely that she watched too much Magical Powered Super Android Girl Kanamin.

"Okay, does this magic cabal have a name?" Touma was placating her at this point, he knew that there was no such thing in magic, but he still needed to know as much information as he could in order to help her.

"Oh I think it's call- wait a minute are you making fun of me?"

"Whaaaat. Of course not." Touma did not sound convincing, not even one bit.

"You are! Magic exists!"

"Look okay I'm sorry but I'm just having a hard time believing in something so far-fetched. I can believe in the supernatural but only in the sense where it relates back to esper abilities not something like magic."

"But magic exists!" Index sulked as if someone had insulted her.

"Fine if magic exists, prove it. Shoot some fire without going through the power curriculum."

"But. I can't use magic."

"Exactly. Besides, if magic did exist then why aren't we using it today huh. I'd think something as useful as raising the dead with a little MP would be more important in society if it did exist."

"But. Magic does exist" Index was pouting.

"Okay. For argument's sake, let's say magic exists. If so Why are they after you?"

"They are likely after the 103,000 grimoires I have."

"Okay, you lost me."

"Why do you always brush off everything I say!"

"Okay fine then where are these 'grimoires'"

"I have every single one of the 103,000 grimoires with me." Index then pointed at herself.

"Okay, fine don't answer me then." Touma then got up from his chair.

"But I did!"

"Believing in esper powers but not in magic makes no sense," Index was now ready to defend her side.

"No, it does. Esper abilities are rooted in science and can be explained by it, you, however, showed me nothing to make me believe in magic at all. While on the other hand, I have literally an entire city to show for my evidence."

"Hmph. What's so great about people who cast aside their natural side to artificially color themselves huh. I bet they aren't even normal anymore? Hmph." Index spat out like a displeased child.

This didn't sit well with Touma as his girlfriend was one of those espers which she had just insulted.

"Hey, kid you better watch your mouth."

"N-No! B-Besides you haven't shown me any proof that espers are real either, Show me something."

"Huh, We'll give me a second and I'll call-" Touma was going to call Misaki in order to have her come over to show this girl that esper powers were real and have her help him deal with Index.

"No show me right now! If you don't I'll just think it's some kind of trick you're pulling on me!"

"TCH fine. You see my hands here".

"Yeah."

"Well my right hand here can negate any supernatural phenomenon it comes into contact with, doesn't matter if it's a giant electrical spear or even the systems of god. My left hand, however, can counter any supernatural phenomenon it comes into contact with whether it be a tactical rail gun or a giant bomb."

"PFFT" Index then started to laugh. "Ha as if I would fall for that, you're saying that you could negate God's miracles."

"TCH. As if I would care what someone who believes in magic would say."

"Magic really does exist!"

"Then show me something, Magical Powered Kanamin girl!"

"Fine! See these" Index then pulled on her robes.

"Your clothes?"

"Yeah, these are a Walking Church there a pope class item. These things could resist a gunshot point plank. So …. Stab me."

"WHAT! Are you out of your mind!" Touma knew Index had a few screws loose but to actually ask him to stab her.

"GRRR." Index then ran to Touma's kitchen to grab a knife from his cupboards and raced back. "Will you ever stop mocking me!"

Touma immediately jumped back he watched enough anime to know never to mess with a crazy girl with a knife. (Yuno Gasai).

Touma then grabbed the knife out of the petite angry girl's hand and ran back to his kitchen to put it back.

"Are you crazy!"

"Grrr! Magic does exist!"

"Hmm, wait if those clothes are supernatural then with my imagine breaker I should be able to destroy them right"

"PFFT. As if your hand could actually destroy my Walking Church."

This infuriated Touma as he did not like to be talked down to. "Fine but don't go crying to me when I break them!" Without a second thought, Touma placed his right hand on Index's shoulder.

(Wait a minute what's gonna happen if they do break?)

Touma's greatest fear was realized as suddenly Index's clothes blew off of her in an instant the only piece of clothing that stayed intact was her nun's hat.

What preceded next was a vicious assault on Touma by Index biting him relentlessly.

* * *

The room was filled with an eerie silence as neither Index nor Touma said a word. Index let out an aura of malice and distaste as she was fiddling with something under the covers of Touma's bed. Touma, on the other hand, prayed to god that Misaki would never find out about this. Misaki could forgive a lot of things, him keeping the truth about Zapper for instance, but she would kill Touma if she ever learned of what happened here today.

"Hey uh, Index are you okay?"

Index poked her head out of the covers to glare at Touma like somebody just kicked her pet.

"Got it"

After a while Index finally emerged from the covers and revealed her nun habit which was now being held together by safety pins.

"It looks great" Touma lied. Touma knew enough about women to keep his mouth shut when they asked if they looked good in a certain outfit.

"Really, I think I just might start a fashion trend with this"

"…."

Suddenly Touma's phone started to ring.

"Hey give me a second" Touma then walked to the other side of the room to answer his phone.

"Hello"

"Good Morning my Prince."

"Oh hey Misaki. How's it going."

"Fine although the power did go out yesterday. I meant to call you, but I was a bit preoccupied trying to keep the peace here, how is it over there."

"Well the powers still out and all the perishables in my fridge are ruined so you know the same old same old."

"What, so your power hasn't been turned back on yet?"

"No has yours?"

"Yes after 20 minutes. Blackouts are kind of recurring thing here." (Thanks to that stupid Railgun)

"Well I'm glad you didn't have to rough it like me, you probably wouldn't have made it." Touma was teasing her.

"What's that supposed to mean. I'll have you know that I'm more than capable of…. Hold on give me a second."

"Misaki?"

"Sorry I just got informed that I have a meeting to attend and due to traffic I'll have to go right now in order to make it."

"What's the meeting about?"

"Just about the global political ramifications about something, I'm mostly going there just for show, I called to remind you that you still have to go to your supplementary classes remember."

"Oh, I completely forgot. It's just that some-"

"Touma did you forget the talk we had."

"N-No of course not"

"..."

"..."

"You did. Didn't you."

"Yeah." With everything that has been going on recently, Touma forgot about Misaki's lecture. It wasn't that Touma ignored her when she talked it's just that some words she would throw at him went way over his head it was like she was reading out a thesaurus.

"Well I guess I'll just have to remind you when I see you tomorrow then won't I"

"T-Tomorrow"

"You do know what Tomorrow is right."

"..."

"One of these days I'm gonna buy you a planner. Tomorrow it's the day we decided to go on our date."

"Oh yeah sorry about that it's not that I don't care it's just a lot of stuff has been going on"

"It's okay my Prince I understand with all the changes happening right now it's only natural that you would forget a thing or two. Okay well, I have to get going I'll call you when I finish the meeting. I'll talk to you soon my Prince."

"See you later Golden Girl"

Touma then hung up his phone and walked back towards Index.

"Who's Golden Girl"

"Huh. Well, she's my- wait a minute aren't we getting way off topic here, who was really chasing you?"

"Ugh, I keep on telling you a magician."

"Ugh, I feel like we're just talking in circles here at this point wait here for a sec" Touma then ran to his closet and pulled out a spare key he had on a chain in case his key ever broke. (Touma had several back-up keys since him losing his keys or having them completely destroyed was pretty common.)

"Here, I don't exactly believe in magicians but I do believe you when you say you're in trouble so here take this you can stay as long as you want until we can get this sorted out." Touma then went to hand the keys to Index and right before they were in her hands she pulled back her hands and looked down.

"Huh, what are you doing? Come on just take it I don't have forever you know I gotta get going soon."

Index simply looked up and solemnly smiled.

"That's okay, I'll leave." Index then stood up and walked pass Touma to the door not noticing that she left her hood behind.

"Wait, what, you just said that."

"If I stay here they'll likely come after me."

"Look Index I know you're scared of but-" Touma walked towards index but right when he took one step he stubbed his toe on the table then tripped over himself and fell down to the ground. "Oww. Such Misfortune."

Index then let out a small smile "Actually if what you say about Imagine Breaker is true then your right hand is most likely erasing all your good luck, giving you Misfortune."

This stunned Touma for a moment (No way luck is just statistics and probability there's no way that something like that is actually happening) Touma then started to get up from off the ground.

Crack

Touma looked down and saw that he had just stepped on his phone completely breaking it.

"AHH! NO, IT'S TRUE!"

Index simply stood there smiling even more profoundly than before, however after a second she started to walk back to leave Touma's Dorm.

"Wait a second. If you're leaving do you have somewhere to go? You could always just stay here I'm sure they won't find you here if you just lie low."

"That's not it. If I stay here then the enemies will come here" Index then tugged on her robes. "The Walking Church is powered by mana and that's how they're able to track me."

"Wait a minute my Imagine breaker negated your robes so doesn't that mean that they won't be able to track you anymore?"

Index shook her head. "It's not that simple The Walking Church was a Pope class item used for defense. If I were the enemy then I would attack the moment I learned that the defense was gone."

"That's all the more reason I can't let you go. If someones after you then I can't just leave you."

Index then looked at Touma and smiled "Then will you follow me to the depths of hell?" (Please do not come with me.)

The look on Index's face showed Touma that she wasn't joking with him nor was she even misleading him. The face she made reflected the heartbreak that this poor girl had to suffer. With all this information being clarified Touma paused for a moment to process everything.

"Don't worry. I am not alone. If I can escape to the church, they will shelter me."

Touma then snapped out of the daze he was in earlier. " A church? I think that there a few in the city but I can't-"

"It's alright all I have to do is find a church of England and I'll be fine."

"Church of England?" Index flinched slightly at this.

Index knew that if she clarified then she would have no hope in stopping this boy from following her. In truth, she had to find a British style church in specific which was very rare, if it was any other type then they would turn her away.

"... A-Any type of church would do, it's just that I prefer the cooking that they have in British style churches".

"... Do you just think with your stomach or something? Alright then. I'll take you there."

"B-But"

"Look the longer we argue about this the longer it's gonna take for me to get you there come on." Touma then extended his hand towards Index.

Index let out a soft smile as she held onto Touma's hand.

* * *

When the pair left Touma's apartment Index immediately started to freak out as she had just seen a cleaning robot.

"T-Touma something weird just appeared!"

"Huh. That's just a cleaning robot. They're basically harmless."

"Oh I knew Japan had impressive technology but I never would have expected them to have mechanized Agathions"

"Agathions?"

"Huh An Agathion is a familiar spirit which appears only at midday in the shape of a human or an animal, don't tell they didn't teach you this stuff in school."

"Of course not!"

"By the way, Touma, where were going before you, decided to take me to the church."

"Oh, I had to go to school." Index then stopped walking.

"... Wait a minute I thought in Japan summer break started today."

"... No, it doesn't" Touma lied he didn't want to admit to Index that he failed the semester and had to take supplementary classes just to pass.

"No, I remember seeing it on a flyer when I was walking around yesterday. The start of summer break party July 20th"

"You're probably just remembering it wrong." Touma's eyes then began to drift away from Index.

"No, I never forget."

"Huh"

"I have perfect recollect, so I never forget." Index then started to glare at Touma

Touma began to sweat "Uhhhhh…"

"Touma." Index then began to reveal her fangs.

"Wait a minute. You got it all wrong. I do have to go to school its just…. For supplementary classes."

"Supplementary classes? Wait are you dumb or something" Index's head then tilted.

"What!? Of course, I'm not dumb it's just that I always get a 50 on my tests because-"

"So you are dumb."

"I'm not dumb!"

"This explains a lot actually."

"What's that supposed to mean!?"

Index then began to laugh.

* * *

**The Church by Misawa Cram School.**

After Index finished laughing at Touma the two of them finally made it to a church by Misawa Cram school.

When Index first saw the church she immediately started to give off a small smile, she knew that it was not a church of England, in fact, it wasn't even a Catholic church it was a Protestant one but the fact that this boy would go this far for her made her smile.

"Thank you, Touma."

"Huh. Don't worry about it. I know it isn't a church of England but I'm sure that they have good food in there too."

Index then started to walk towards the church knowing full well that they would turn her away but, she had to if she didn't then this boy would keep following her, and he would get dragged into her problems.

"Touma…." Index then turned around to look at Touma one last time.

"Index if you ever find yourself in any trouble just come back and find me I'm sure I'll be able to help you more."

Index then let out a smile.

"Thank you, Touma, for everything." Index then opened the doors to the church and stepped inside before the doors fully closed she saw Touma wave her off.

(I'm sorry, but I can't let them hurt you too) Index waved back to Touma while smiling at the new friend that she had just made.

Once the doors to the church closed Touma turned around to head off to his supplementary classes.

"I wish I could've done more. I should swing back here with Misaki when she comes back."

Touma then left the church grounds only looking back once before walking towards his school.

* * *

**A Certain School.**

Touma arrived late to his first day of Supplementary classes by an hour and made an unceremonious entrance into the class by trying to sneak in only to have the whole class turn around the second he opened the door. Needless to say, Touma was punished by having to do twice as much homework then everybody else to make up for the time he had lost. After all, was said and done the supplementary class went on as usual.

"Psst Kami" Aogami whispered to Touma who tried his best to ignore it.

"Psst Kami" At this point Touma turned his head towards the window.

"If your gonna ignore me, be prepared for me to tell everybody about your-" Aogami mouth was quickly covered by Touma's hand as he knew what he was about to say.

"What. What could you possibly want to talk to me about?"

"Calm down Kami. I just wanted to know if the rumors were true?"

"What rumors?"

"You know about the graviton bombing?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Huh. You don't know, apparently, someone posted online in a forum that the Railgun wasn't the one who stopped the bombing, it said someone else did it. Someone with the ability to negate things." Touma was momentarily stunned.

(What who the hell would write that)

Aogami took Touma's pause as proof that he was the one responsible for it.

"Look Kami let me give you a bit of advice don't tell anybody you did it."

"Huh"

"Trust me. That'll start something that…. Just trust me." Aogami knew that if people ever found out about Touma's actions then every girl in Academy city would immediately fall under the Kami-yan disease and it would be the beginning of the end of mankind.

Touma then looked over at Aogami who had his head laid flat on his desk.

"What the hell are you thinking."

Touma then started to stare aimlessly out of the window trying to make sense of what he had just learned.

(So magic does exist or at least something close enough to make my Imagine breaker go off.)

(And what was she talking about when she said she had all those books? I didn't see a single one. Wait a minute didn't she say something about having perfect recollect. Does that mean)

Aogami then raised his hand "Sensei? Kamijou-kun is staring out the window at the girls' tennis team."

This immediately caught Touma off guard as he suddenly realized that he was actually staring at them but not on purpose. "WHA no you got the-"

Touma's pleas fell on deaf ears as Komoe-sensei started to sniffle at the womanizer student that she had failed to teach.

What followed was the entire class giving a stare of hostile intent at Touma for making their teacher cry.

* * *

When the supplementary classes finally ended Touma realized that they were released at the same time that they would have been if it was a regular school day. Touma instinctively went for his phone to call Misaki when he realized that he had broken it earlier in the day when he met Index.

"I should probably go check up on her to see if she's alright."

Touma then started to walk in the direction of the church only to hear a familiar voice from behind him.

"There you are!"

Touma turned around only to find that he was tracked down by Misaka once again.

"Oh, it's you again Zapper." Touma then started to walk away not wanting to deal with her again.

"Don't just brush me off!" Misaka then stomped the ground releasing electricity.

This immediately shocked Touma in both ways since he actually got shocked by the electricity, and he didn't realize she would be so dumb as to release a current into the ground when they were in the streets.

"Ha! Did that shake the-" Misaka quickly found her mouth covered by Touma's right hand. Unknown to Touma however him doing this was making it very hard to breathe for Misaka who was struggling to push Touma's hand off.

"Idiot look around you, You just zapped every gadget on the block. You'll have to pay for all of them, so keep quiet."

Touma then heard the siren of a police bot that was also caught in the electrical discharge.

Error system malfunction possible cyber attack calling backup".

"Such Misfortune"

Touma immediately let go of Misaka and made a run for it he wasn't about to be blamed for this too. Once Misaka caught her breath she ran after Touma.

* * *

**Misawa Cram School.**

Once Touma lost the sounds of police bot sirens he decided to catch his breath at the entrance of Misawa Cram School. This brief respite was cut short however by Misaka finally catching up with his.

"Oh come on! Is this really all you do."

"What's that supposed to mean."

"It means I've literally never seen you do anything else but chase me."

"TCH! That's because you keep running away and dodging my questions! It's your fault!"

"What do you mean my fault! Every time I do stop and talk to you always flip out and try to electrocute me".

"That's because you always spit out some lie. Like the one about you being a level 0"

"Okay like I told you before, I wasn't lying I had no idea that they changed that."

"Okay, then what about the part where you said that you didn't deflect my railgun last year."

"I-... I'm sorry".

"Hm," Misaka looked surprised.

"I'm sorry that I did that really. I don't exactly remember doing that but, from what you told me it had to be me. I don't know why I did it or how I even got there in the first place but, I'm sorry."

Misaka simply looked at him as if trying to see if he was lying or not. When she figured out that he wasn't lying Misaka face let out an annoyed expression.

"Hmph. Fine if you really want to make it up to me then come with me."

"Uhh, can I ask where we're going."

"Back to the Judgement office."

"Huh, but didn't you already get cleared of your crimes the last time we went there?"

"That's not why we went there last time!" Misaka face was now red after remembering what happened to the last time they went to the Judgement office.

"Really? Then why did we go there".

"Isn't obvious. So you could get the credit for the graviton bombings."

"Huh but why? You're the one who-"

"NO, I WASN'T! You were! That's what ticks me off about you!"

"What are you talking about I don't need any-"

"I don't care if you don't want the credit you're getting it. I even had Saten help me make a forum about how you were the one who actually stopped the bombing."

"That was you, but-"

"It didn't work. Not a single person believed it. Everybody just disregarded it and those who didn't just claim to be the ones who actually stopped the bombing. It just pisses me off, so I went back to Judgement and asked that they update the report on the graviton bombing."

"Why?"

"6 hours."

"Huh"

"It took everybody in the office I included that long to file all the necessary paperwork in order to change the report. The last thing we need in order to finalize the report was the person who actually stopped the bombings' statement."

"Why does this mean so much to you?" Touma was curious as to why Misaka would go this far just to give him the credit.

"I have my own reasons. Now come on let's go" Misaka then grabbed Touma and began to pull him in the direction of the judgment offices.

"Hold on a second." Touma then motioned for Misaka to stop pulling him.

"What is it now."

"Before we go can I go the church over there." Touma then pointed at the church.

"Huh? You're a Christian."

"No, it's nothing like that I just have to check in with somebody who I left there earlier."

"You left somebody at the church."

"Yeah, a kid. She said that she was being chased by somebody, and she said that she'd be safe at the-"

Touma was immediately punched in the arm by Misaka "Are you an idiot! Why didn't you just take her to a judgment agent or leave her at an Anti skill facility." Touma actually felt like an idiot because that never even crossed his mind.

"But she said that magicians were after her and-"

Misaka's face turned from annoyed to pissed. "You have to be the biggest idiot I've ever met!" Misaka then ran past Touma and headed towards the church to help the poor child who was in the care of this idiot.

"B-But, wait for me!"

After Touma finally caught up with Misaka he saw her speaking to the priest in charge. When she was finished speaking she turned to Touma and glared.

"So what did the priest say," Touma asked as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Was the kid you were talking about wearing a white nun's habit held together by safety pins."

"Yeah, she was."

"Well, he said one of the workers here saw someone like that come in here and wait for 5 minutes before heading off again."

"Wait, so she's not here" Touma's face turned to one of worry. He knew that somebody was after Index and that they were dangerous enough to make her jump from a rooftop to avoid them.

"Do you have any idea where she could've gone."

"No. All she said was that she was looking for a church for sanctuary, why would she leave."

"Did she specify a church in specific?"

"She did she mentioned something about a church of England, but she said that-' (She lied, why would she lie) Touma then remembered what Index had told him earlier

'Will you follow me to the depths of hell'

(Because of me. I never answered her. I hesitated. It's all my fault.) Touma stood there mentally kicking himself for what he did.

"Hey, Idiot snap out of it!"

"We have to find her."

"I know that's why we have to find a security terminal we can use my power to track her using the camera's around Academy city."

"You can do that?"

"Yeah, but we have to hurry the longer we wait, the more security footage I'll have to rummage through before I can find her."

"Thank you."

Misaka didn't say a word but instead started to run to the nearest security terminal.

* * *

Finding a security terminal was easy enough, looking through the countless amount of video feeds and backtracking them was the hard part and since Misaka was the only person who could actually do it all Touma could do was wait there until she found something.

"Hey are-"

"If you say are you done," Misaka said while glaring at Touma "I'm going to hit you."

"Sorry, it's just that… I could've stopped her and now she could be" Misaka stopped glaring at Touma now knowing the reason why he was in a rush.

"Hey save you wallowing for later we're going to find her." The look on Misaka's face spoke confidence in her abilities as she didn't have a doubt in her mind that she could find Index.

"Hey so does this mysterious nun have a name?" Misaka was trying to get Touma's mind off of thinking of the worst case scenario.

"Oh her name is Index."

"Index? You mean like the back of the book?"

"Uh yeah but that's her nickname her full name is Index Librorum Prohibitorum"

"Okay well, now I see why she goes by Index. How did the two of you meet?"

"Oh well remember the blackout from yesterday" Misaka's face then turned red out of embarrassment.

"T-That wasn't my fault."

"I didn't say it was." Touma then raised his hands defensively. "But because of the Blackout, yesterday Index lost her footing and missed the landing when she was jumping rooftops."

"This kid was jumping from rooftops! Is she insane!?"

"No, she was scared. The people who were after her were chasing her and it was the only way to get away from them."

"Those bastards what kind of person does that to a kid."

"I know but it's my fault too I didn't believe her completely at first. That's probably the reason why she left the church."

"Why didn't you believe her?' Misaka then turned to Touma with a look of confusion on her face she would've thought that he was the type of person to believe anything if somebody was in trouble.

"It wasn't that I didn't believe her when she said she was being chased it was just about the people who were chasing her."

Misaka's mind finally made the connection to what Touma said earlier.

"Magicians? She told you magicians were after her?"

"Yeah at first I thought that she was just confused, but then she showed me proof."

"Proof? What she'd do pull a rabbit out of her hat."

"No, it was." Touma then remembered what happened and thought it best that he didn't tell Misaka about how he learned about the existence of magic. "No, but she showed me a magical item that cleared away any doubts I had in my mind."

"Uh- okay"

"Hey, shouldn't we be calling judgment or something?"

"I already shot Kuroko a text about the situation. She's currently teleporting from church to church around district 7 trying to find anybody matching Index description."

"So what's gonna happen to Index once we find her?"

"Well most likely she'll be taken into protective custody by Judgement or Anti Skill until we can-" Misaka's eyes then suddenly widen. "I think I found something"

"Really what is it?"

"Well, apparently a security camera caught her entering a student dormitory" Misaka then handed her phone over to Touma.

"Wait a minute this is my dormitory. She must have come back, we gotta get going." Touma then ran out of the security terminal and headed straight for his dorm.

"Hey wait for me!" Misaka then shot a text to her friends that they found Index at Touma's dorm. However, this message would never make it out as it was intercepted by somebody who didn't want anyone else interfering with the situation.

* * *

**A Certain Dormitory**

Once Touma and Misaka arrived at Touma's dorm they quickly realized that the entire place was deserted. Everybody was probably out at the start of summer party so that didn't surprise Touma that much however Misaka was a bit more on edge. However, even with all of Misaka's reservations, she couldn't stop Touma from running off in front of her.

"Hey wait up!" Touma didn't even turn around. He was determined to find Index as quickly as possible.

Once Touma made it to the elevator he pressed the button to head up to his floor. That would be the place that Index would have most likely gone first.

As Touma waited for the elevator to close Misaka arrived and jumped in at the last minute.

"What the hell!"

"I'm sorry. I just want to find Index as quickly as possible before anything bad happens."

Misaka let out a sigh. "You can't keep running off on your own you know. What happens if Index already left huh. Then what, how would you find her?"

"Well, I-"

"Exactly. You have to start asking for help that's why we're in this mess, to begin with."

Touma was silent. He knew that what she was saying was true. He was so used to dealing with his problems on his own that he never even once stopped and thought to ask for help. That's why it never occurred to him to call Judgement or even Anti Skill.

"Thanks"

Misaka then started to blush slightly. And before she could say a word the doors to the elevator opened.

Both Touma and Misaka rushed out the door to Touma's apartment to see Index lying on the ground being surrounded by cleaning robots.

Touma sighed in relief as he had finally found Index. This relief quickly turned into terror as he stepped closer to find that Index was lying in a pool of her own blood.

Both Misaka's and Touma's first reaction to this sight was disbelief. They couldn't fully process what they were seeing at first as their minds tried to tell them that it was some sort of trick.

Touma was the first one to snap out of it and quickly ran over to Index with Misaka not falling too far behind.

Misaka then used her electrical abilities to blast the cleaning robots away that were surrounding Index in order to clean up her pool of blood.

"What the hell happened!? God dammit! Who the hell did this to you!?"

Suddenly a strange voice appeared out of nowhere "Hm? That would be us, magicians." Misaka and Touma then jumped away from Index's body.

Both Misaka and Touma turned around to see a tall man with long red hair that was obviously dyed that was smoking a cigarette he wore black priest robe and had a silver ring on each of his ten fingers along with earrings on both ears, and most notably a barcode tattoo under his right eye.

The man then stood over Index facing the two of them. "Sorry didn't expect this big of a crowd" The man then took out the cigarette that was in his mouth. " My magic name is Fortis931" He then threw the cigarette in the direction of Misaka and Touma and suddenly a giant explosion of fire came cascading at them.

* * *

**Author's Notes**

The main reason Judgement wasn't able to find Index faster was because most of the churches don't have a camera installed into them for religious purposes. `However, Academy City does have secret cameras placed into them however that is not public knowledge'

Uiharu wasn't able to help as well as she was currently in route to the Gemstone facility in order to deliver her apology letter.

The Meeting that Misaki was attending was about the Global ramifications on Cybersecurity and how it affects Academy city as well as the rest of the world since they have some of the most important scientific breakthroughs.

Along with the message somebody intercepted they also cut off the live feed from Touma's dorm and played it on a loop.

Also, the reason Stiyl attacked first was that Touma wasn't alone. He doesn't know who Misaka is but he does know that a majority of the population in Academy city have esper abilities and doesn't want to take any chances in case Index getting hurt.

Tune in next time for

**Magic vs Science**


	12. Chapter 12 Science vs Magic

**Hey, thank you for your support and for reading a Certain Scientific Counter. Also, thank you for all of the reviews It really helps me see what I've been doing good at and what still needs work. Also Spring Break!Whoooo! Now Q&A**

**Creus-Thank you so much for the praise. And I will**

**BlueJack22-Yeah whenever I read the light novel or saw the anime I always noticed that Mikoto was so close to actually discovering the magic that day it was insane. I mean if she just followed him on that day the whole story would be completely different. And I'll try to flesh out Touma and Index relationship as best I can. Thank you for the compliment**

**Whwsms- This Time on A Certain Scientific Counter.**

**Anti-Mage 29- Yep and before you ask the reason why it's called a Certain Scientific Counter is that it will be primarily focusing on how the science side of things interact with magic. Also, I'm personally on the fence I mean Misaki was Touma's first love but Mikoto is kinda awesome so I'll just see where the story goes. If anything I can guarantee you that harem will grow.**

**Deus Aut Bestia- Thank you(assumes the Burter** **pose)**

**Awardedall- It sure did, and thank you for your support.**

**Deus Aut Bestia-Thank you (Assumes Jeice pose) and you were actually the only people to notice or at least the only person to comment about how Touma changed his catchphrase from Rotten luck to Such Misfortune. This was because he lost a lot of his memories and just decide that it just sounded natural.**

**Deus Aut Bestia- She is (Assumes Captain Ginyu pose) (THE GINYU FORCE!)**

**MarkGib- Thank you it will only start to get more different from here on out.**

**Fortitude501- Thank you so much for the high praise I personally love both of their stories but I can see where you're coming from. I believe in the BioShock Infinite version of AU's. There are constants and then there are variables. Something will remain the same while other things might drastically change. And I'll try my best to fix my grammar mistakes.**

**Rajarshi Sarkar- If people were to figure out Touma was responsible for the Graviton bombing Incident not much would change I mean a lot of people would just not believe that he could actually do it I even showed this when Saten made an online forum about it. Also when Miskai learns about Mikoto…..CIVIL WAR!. I'm personally excited for that arc. And Seria's not lying low she just has her own thing going on. I mean do you really want to see her fill out paperwork after Sogiita blew a hole in the research lab trying to show off his GUTS! Also, the reference I was making was how Touma thought Index was crazy while holding the knife telling him to stab her.**

**Savior555- Thank you**

**Guest- Thanks for the compliment.**

**Also, I apologize in advance for the upcoming fight scene. Fight scenes were never really my forte.**

**Magic vs Science**

* * *

As the giant wall of fire came cascading at them both Touma and Misaka had similar but differing thoughts to each other.

(It's Magic!)

(It's a pyrokinetic!)

Touma instinctively put up his right hand in the hopes that it would protect both of them from the incoming attack, however, this didn't stop Touma from being scared at the fact that his power might not work. If that were to happen both he and Misaka were as good as dead. At this point, Touma was simply going in blind in the hopes that the thing that has caused him so much misfortune up until now would be useful.

The bright red flames of fire radiated throughout the hallway along with the sound of an explosion, as the man with red hair thought to himself.

(Hmm? Did I overdo it, ah well it's alright since no one else seems to be here) The man quickly snapped out of this thought as he heard the sound of glass breaking. The wall of fire that he had sent there was being swept aside as though it was never there and the two who he pegged for dead stepping out of the smoky remains of the hallway.

"Hehehehe" (I guess I was worried about nothing, imagine breaker is useful for something after all) Touma was no longer scared as he was now confident that he could beat this punk magician who was terrorizing Index.

"Wha-" The man then took a step back in shock over the incomprehensible feat that he had just witnessed. This boy was able to swat away fire that was 3000 degrees. How is that even possible?

However, before either of them were able to do anything they had both failed to realize that there was another person there, another person who felt neither confidence nor fear someone who felt pure rage over the sight of a little girl's body lying in a pool of her own blood.

"YOU BASTARD!" Suddenly a giant wave of electricity shot out of Misaka's hand, the blast was large enough to entirely consume the man before them along with everything else in the hallway.

_***SHATTER***_

However, before the electrical blast could even make it a few feet closer, the sound of glass breaking could be heard as Touma instinctively threw his hand in the way of Misaka's attack.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING! YOU COULD'VE HIT INDEX! GET AHOLD OF YOURSELF!" Touma turned around to see Misaka who was in a state of shock of what she had just done and what she could've done if Touma wasn't there to stop her. She could've killed him and Index.

Not letting this opportunity pass him by the man then swung his right hand horizontally and shot out a flame sword that went straight for Touma who was to busy trying to negate Misaka's electricity.

As the flame sword approached, Touma's sixth sense went off, and he instinctively put up his left hand to block the incoming attack.

_***REVERB*...*SHATTER***_

The sound of something reverbing could be heard but before he could shoot off his counter Touma clenched his left fist and with one fluid motion he brought it over to his right hand and the sound of glass shattering could be heard as he negated it.

Touma knew that if he shot off his counterattack at this close range he would not only hurt himself, but he might also hurt Index who was laying on the ground next to this strange man.

"Tell me why!" Both the man and Touma turned around to see Misaka holding an arcade token and pointing it directly at the man.

"Why are you doing this!? What could this little girl have possibly done that would justify you to doing something like this!?"

"Why" The man then looked up for a brief moment and then parroted the same words that were told to him "Because it's the most humane way."

Both Misaka and Touma froze in their tracks after hearing this. They were expecting something more sinister than this.

Touma's face then changed to one of anger "What the hell are you talking about!? You chase this little girl all over the place and then you do this to her! How is this the most humane way!?"

The man looked neither apologetic nor regretful he kept the same look that he had before that of indifference "It wasn't me that sliced her and I doubt Kanzaki meant to turn this into something bloody. We aren't here to kill her were just here to retrieve the 103,000 grimoires she has in her possession."

Misaka then inched her hand closer with the arcade token still in her hand. "What the hell are you talking about!?"

The man then took out another cigarette from his pocket and placed it into his mouth before answering. "Oh I see you aren't that well-informed, allow me to fix that problem. The books Index has in her possession are dangerous if a human such as yourself, were you to even look over one volume you would surely die".

Misaka was filled with even more rage than before"Don't screw with me!"

Touma, on the other hand, realized exactly what the man was talking about, he had just found the last piece of the puzzle. They were in her memories.

Touma then spoke up. "Just because she remembers some stupid books doesn't give you the right to do this to her!"

The man then lit the cigarette and spoke once more. "Oh so you actually understand," The man then took the cigarette out of his mouth and exhaled all the smoke which he had just inhaled. "We were sent here in order to shelter Index before anyone who could use them comes to take her away."

"Shelter her?" Misaka was astonished that this man could say something like this when he was standing over a bloodied Index.

"That's right. Shelter her. No matter how goodhearted she may be, she cannot stand up to torture and drugs that the people who were after the books would inflict upon her."

Touma's fist then shook with anger. "If you think we're just gonna stand here and let you take her away then you must be crazier than I thought!"

Touma then began to walk up to the man with a few more steps he would be in range to deck him out.

The man then started to tremble as he could feel something inhumane oozing out of Touma. The man then quickly started to chant something and a figure made out of pure fire appeared.

The figure had no definite shape as Touma swatted it away with his imagine breaker before it could take its true form.

**_*SHATTER*_**

As Touma stepped closer to this man he felt something scream inside his head to run. Touma then looked at the man and saw he was smiling. At this sight, Touma knew something was wrong, and he began to back up.

Suddenly the sound of a viscous liquid moving could be heard from all around.

"What the hell!?"

The fire which he had erased not moments ago had reappeared once again in front of him if he had taken another step he would have surely died of being consumed in those flames.

(No way. My… My Imagine Breaker failed) Touma's mind was sent into complete disarray and all the confidence he had from before was immediately lost in the face of this new development.

The figure of fire then began to take its true form. That of an enormous fire demon that was carrying a 2-meter-long cross made completely of fire.

When there's a fire there's heat. Suddenly every piece of metal in their general vicinity started to glow red-hot orange color and started to melt. This included the arcade token that Misaka was holding. The moment that monster appeared she dropped the token in pain out and watched as it started to melt of the floor.

The monster then started to make its move as it raised it's giant cross with both of its hands and swung it down at Touma. Left with no other options raised his right hand and braced it with his left in the hopes of stopping it.

**_*SHATTER**SHATTER**SHATTER*_**

As the cross and his right hand collided Touma could feel the immense pressure of not only the force behind this monsters swing but also from the heat it was giving off. It felt as though his hand was going to give out any second now.

Despite being utterly terrified at the current situation Touma noticed that there was a lag in this monster's attacks as it reacted to his Imagine Breaker. Touma decides to use this small opening in order to switch his hands in the hopes that his left hand would fare any better in this situation.

**_*REVERB*_**

The moment he did the sound of something reverbing could be heard. However, Touma noticed that the monster wasn't going away, in fact, it was getting closer.

**_*Bir Biri* *BOOM!*_**

In less than a second Touma could hear the sound of electricity crackling from behind him when suddenly an electrical spear was shot at the monster's arm temporarily allowing him time to escape. Touma clenched his left fist out of pure reflex before the arm of the monster was blown away.

Touma used the time that Misaka had given him to get away from the monsters range and back towards Misaka he then used his Imagine Breaker to erase the counter-attack that he had just collected.

"Are you okay!?" Misaka was frantic as she had no idea what this monster could be or even how to stop it.

"Yeah, how about you?"

"I'm fine. What the hell are we gonna do about that thing!?" Misaka then heard the voice of a little girl.

"Innocentius King of the Witch Hunters. Created via Runes…...twenty-four characters have been used to indicate it as a magic language that was derived from Germanic tribes".

Touma recognized his voice as Index's, but he could hardly believe that it was her how was she speaking so calmly when she was so beat up.

"I- Index?"

"T-That's Index?" Misaka was also shocked. She could see Index from behind the fiery monster she looked emotionless, less like a person and more like a robot.

"Yes. I am the grimoire library belonging to Necessarius, the 0th Parish of the Anglican Church. My proper name is Index Librorum Prohibitorum, but that can be abbreviated to Index." This only spooked Touma and Misaka even more since it showed how devoid of emotion she was.

"With my introduction complete, I will return to my-" Before Index could continue she was interrupted by the man.

"No, allow me. Innocentius King of the Witch Hunters is a pope level spell that I Stiyl Magnus created myself, something that you cannot possibly hope in defeating. In short, it cannot be destroyed."

"Is what he's saying true Index" Touma then looked over at Index.

"Yes, his short summation is an accurate representation of the capabilities of the spell, however-" Before Index could share any other valuable information the Stiyl motioned his hand.

"Innocentius King of the Witch Hunters destroy those two!" The Giant Monsters made of flames then began to move towards both of them, and they could see the trail of destruction that it left in its path as it melted every piece of metal around it and it scorched the very earth it walked on.

"Run!" Touma then grabbed Misaka's arm as they both fled down the hallway in order to escape its wrath.

* * *

As Misaka and Touma ran down the halls they could hear the shouts that the fiery monster was making as it echoed through the hallways. It was something akin to what you would expect a demon in a video game to sound like except in this case it was real. And the closer you got to that sound the closer you would be to your death.

"What the hell was that!? And what the hell is chasing us!?"

"I don't know! All I do know is that it's magic!"

"You've got to be kidding me!"

"You have any other explanation for that thing chasing us!?"

"Fine! How do we stop it!?" Misaka and Touma then ran down the staircase in hopes that they could lose the monster and exited on the next level.

"I…. I don't know." As Touma ran through the hallways he took a glance at his right hand.

"Gah! Index mentioned something about runes right maybe that's the key!" Misaka didn't sound too sure of herself.

"GRAAAAAAGH!"

The two then turned around to see that the Monster had finally caught up to them as was making a mad dash towards them. The entire hallway lit up as the metal railing closest to this creature started to emanate a bright orange light before melting.

As Touma continued to run he could hear the sound of electricity crackling. When he turned around to look at Misaka he saw that she was releasing an electrical current from her hand in the direction of the ground below them.

After a second he could feel the ground itself begin to rumble as a pipe that was underground found itself unearthed by this electromaster power.

The pipe shot out a powerful stream of water directed at the Monster.

The Monster slowed down for a moment however the entire hallway began to be enveloped in a thick mist so dense that neither Misaka or Touma could see the Monster anymore.

The moment that the Mist began to take shape the two of them decided to use this opportunity to get away from this monster.

"Come on if we gotta get out of here!" Misaka then looked over the railing to see a metal awning below them. "Come on we gotta jump!"

"Are you serious but-"

"Come on we don't have a chance of beating that thing it's like something straight out of_ Hell_!"

Those words stopped Touma dead in his tracks as he remembered something.

_'Will you follow me to the depths of hell._'

"What the hell are you doing!?" Misaka then turned around to see Touma facing the direction of the ever-growing Mist that was approaching them.

Touma then took one step forward only to have his arm grabbed by Misaka. "I have to stop it."

Misaka was in utter shock she had just seen this boy's trump card fail against this Monster, and he was going to try again. "What the hell are you talking about!? You already tried, do you really think that you can stop it?"

Touma still facing the Mist looked at his left hand, "No I'm pretty sure that I might die but-"

"Then what the hell are you doing!? Stop trying to play the hero and come with me!"

Touma shook his head and then turned to her. "I'm no hero, but if I'm going to save her then I'm going to have to learn how to face hell, so I can drag her out of it." Touma then brushed her hand off of his arm and started to head towards the Mist.

Misaka was completely stunned. This boy would risk his very life just to protect some girl that he had just met that very same day. Misaka could only watch as Touma entered the Mist.

* * *

**Mist**

The moment Touma entered the Mist he could feel his legs start to shake it took all of his willpower to stop himself from collapsing on the floor out of fear. He could hear the Monster's screams as it drew closer to him.

Touma then raised his left hand, so he could better inspect it. It was difficult to see since the Mist itself was preventing him from being able to see as well as he used to but once his hand was close enough, he could see it clearly.

His left hand had no burn marks on it nor did it have any indication that it came into contact with fire. This filled Touma with some hope but not enough to erase the doubts he had in his head.

(What if it doesn't work. What if-) Touma then slaps himself in the face.

(No! It has to work!) As the sound of the Monster drew closer Touma raised his left hand forward in order to block the impending attack and his right hand to brace.

…

….

"GRAAAAHHH!" The Monster finally appeared in front of Touma. He could see it raise its giant cross and began to lower it at Touma.

Touma then used his left hand to block the incoming attack and the sound of something reverbing could be heard.

**_*REVERB!*_**

The sheer force alone of the attack made Touma flinch, and he buckled his legs in order to keep himself from falling.

(Come on please work)

The fiery cross began to inch it's way closer to Touma's face millimeter by millimeter. Touma then removed his right hand from bracing his left and in a moment was pushed back even further, before he got any further he raised his right hand in the air and the sound of glass breaking could also be heard along with the sound of something reverbing.

**_*REVERB**SHATTER!*_**

"GRAAAAAHHH!" The monster was disappearing and reappearing faster than Touma could keep track of and eventually Touma could feel the pressure of the attack begin to lessen little by little.

Suddenly Touma could hear the screams of the Monster begin to grow quieter and quieter. He then felt the force of the attack had become completely nonexistent.

Touma pulled back his right hand and then saw the fire that made up this creature's body quickly being absorbed by his left hand. The faster that the creature would reform the quicker it would just be absorbed. Suddenly Touma's instincts kicked in, and he clenched his left fist.

Touma had no idea why he did this. He had no reason for doing so, and yet he did so anyway. It was as if he already knew that it was over.

Touma then looked up and saw that the Monster that had terrorized not moments ago had vanished. He then looked over at his left hand and realized that he had done it.

"Don't worry Index I'll drag you out of hell if it's the last thing I do." Touma then punched his left fist into his right hand and the sound of glass breaking could be heard.

***SHATTER!***

* * *

As Stiyl looked over at the unconscious Index he felt an enormous guilt rush through his body. He knew what he was doing was for the best but even so, it still hurt him inside seeing Index like this. As Stiyl went to go pick up Index he heard the bell to the elevator begin to ring and turned around to see the same boy from before standing in front of him completely unharmed.

"B-But how!? What happened to Innocentius!?" Stiyl was trembling as he began to back up.

Touma simply answered by raising up his left hand.

"A-Are you Fucking with me!?"

Touma simply stood there staring down Stiyl.

"Grr. Fine then let's see you pull off a miracle twice!" Stiyl then stood in front of Index to shield her from the incoming heat. He then raised his arms and two large flames appeared in both of his hands, he then threw them both of the ground and created another Innocentius.

"Innocentius kill him!"

Innocentius then rushed towards Touma and raised its giant cross to attack him. The hallways echoed with noise that Innocentius had created and once it made contact with Touma's left hand the sound of something reverbing could be heard

**_*REVERB!*_**

10 seconds. That is the length of time that it took for Touma to completely absorb Innocentius.

"What the" When Stiyl watched this he almost died of, a complete shock of what this boy had just done he had just absorbed his Innocentius like it was nothing. But before he could say a single word he heard the sound of electricity crackle from behind him.

Misaka had climbed the wall using her electricity and had snuck up behind Stiyl during all the chaos. Misaka had Index in her arms as she launched an electrical current from her head directed at Stiyl.

"Innoce-" Before Stiyl could call another Innocentius he was paralyzed by Misaka's shock.

Touma then used this opportunity to close the distance that Stiyl had between them. Touma planted his left foot firmly on the ground as he clenched his right fist and pulled his arm decided to use his full force on Stiyl in order to finish this fight.

_***THWACK!* *CRACK!***_

As Touma's first made contact with Stiyl's face he could hear Stiyl's jaw slightly crack.

Stiyl's body was then launched three meters in the opposite direction. While holding Index Misaka casually dodged Stiyl as his body came careening down the hallway.

Once Stiyl's body had finally landed on the floor it was clear that he was out cold.

_***SHATTER!***_

Touma then smacked his left hand with his right and the sound of glass breaking could be heard. This sounded their victory.

Misaka and Touma then looked at each other and smiled at what they had just accomplished.

* * *

Once Misaka had secured Stiyl by using her ability to magnetize some of the remaining railings in order to pin him down in place. She then went over to check on Touma who was currently holding Index in his arms.

"Index, why did you come back?" Touma wanted to know the reason why she chose here of all places to return.

Index looked up at Touma and weakly replied. "M-My... hood" Suddenly it all made sense. Index's robes were how they tracked her down in the first place, but when Touma used his Imagine Breaker on it, he failed to realize that he didn't destroy her hood.

(She came back. Just to protect me.) Touma was mentally kicking himself over what he had just learned and then handed Index over to Misaka while he ran to his dorm.

Once Touma reached his door he saw that the handle along with the lock itself was completely melted, so he simply kicked the door in.

Touma was slightly surprised at how easy this was when he suddenly felt a sharp pain coming from his foot.

(Yeah that makes sense.) Once he made it inside he grabbed Index's hood and used his Imagine breaker to destroy the remaining magic in the hood and returned to Misaka.

When Touma approached Misaka he noticed her fiddling with her phone it seems that the heat from before had melted the phone completely shut.

"What are you doing?"

"What does it look like, I'm trying to call Anti Skill to have an ambulance pick Index up but my stupid phone won't open!' Misaka then threw the phone on the ground out of sheer frustration.

"Wait a minute we can't call Anti Skill."

'What are you talking about?"

"Index is an outsider there's no telling how they would react if they found her and besides you heard the guy he said he wasn't alone if word got out that an outsider was admitted to a hospital they'll be able to find her for sure."

"Damn it!" Misaka was stomping her foot. Touma was right if they had this much trouble just dealing with one magician then who knows how many they would send next time.

"What do we do!? We can't leave her like this!" Misaka looked at Touma to see if he had any idea what their next move should be.

"I'll...be fine. If you...can only stop the bleeding..." Misaka who was holding Index at the time was shocked that she was still conscious as she didn't feel her move at all.

Suddenly an idea shot inside of Touma's mind. He had played enough video games to realize that in any magical type of video game setting there was always healing magic.

"Index are there any healing spells inside those books?"

Index weakly replied. "There is ….but you...can't do it...even if I...taught you the spell...neither of you could do it" Index then started to cough slightly.

Misaka then moved Index in a more comfortable position "Index are you alright?"

"Yes… I'm fine just."

"What do you mean neither of us could do it?"

"Magic and…. Esper abilities are mutually exclusive so you can't use magic."

Suddenly an idea raced through Touma's mind. "So what if I found someone who wasn't an Esper. Could they perform the spell?"

"... Yes" Touma then picked up Index who was currently in Misaka's arms and started to walk away.

Misaka was quick to follow suit. "Where are we going?"

"To the only person I know that is as talentless as me. My Teacher."

* * *

**Komoe-sensei's Apartment.**

Touma was able to find where his teacher lived thanks to him using a payphone to call Aogami and ask. Normally Touma would have chastised Aogami for being a stalker and knowing this but, for once he was glad he was friends with a stalker. The building itself was a worn-down wooden two-story apartment building. It looked so run down Touma was afraid to step foot on the staircase as he thought that they would break from his sheer weight alone. However, due to the circumstances he quickly got over that fear.

Once Touma finally found his teacher's apartment, and he proceeded to ring the doorbell as fast as he could.

"Yes, Yes in a minute" Touma could hear his teacher voice from behind the door and was patiently waiting for her to open the door

Misaka, on the other hand, was not as patient as she used her ability to unlock the door and threw it open.

"Ahhhhh!, crazy newspaper salesmen!" Komoe-sensei stood in front of the door wearing a bunny style pajamas.

"Sorry! It's just me. I need your help" Touma did not waste any time and let himself inside of his teacher's apartment along with Misaka.

"Huh? I thought you said this was your teacher's apartment, Who's the kid?" Misaka had no idea that the small pink-haired person in front of them was actually his teacher and was an adult.

"Excuse me I'll have you know that I'm- Wait a minute are you Mikoto Misaka?" Komoe-sensei then looked over at Touma who was piggybacking Index.

"So I guess you do have a type after all." Komoe-sensei then looked at the ground not noticing Index. She then realized that her apartment was a horrible mess, empty beer cans littering the floor and cigarette butts everywhere. She quickly scrambled in order to clean up.

Touma then gently placed Index on the floor in front of Komoe-sensei. "AHHHHH!"

"Sensei I need your help."

"T-There's a phone over there, call an ambulance."

Suddenly Index's eyes shot wide open and the emotionless stare that she had earlier had returned. "**John's Pen mode has been forcibly activated. If blood loss continues at the current rate all life force will be lost within 15 minutes.**"

While this was going on Misaka made her way to Komoe-sensei's phone a sent a small current through it, short-circuiting the phone. "The phone doesn't work."

"What, but I thought I fixed that last week?"

"Sensei, I'm going to go call an ambulance while I'm gone can you please listen to what Index says please." Touma's face pleaded for mercy as she was his last hope for saving Index.

Komoe-sensei nodded her head in agreement but it didn't change the fact that she was growing paler at the thought of being left in charge of a dying girl.

"Index is there anything I can do to help?"

Index replied in her cold emotionless voice. "No there is not, both of you should leave or risk having the spell fail."

With that, both Misaka and Touma exited Komoe-sensei's apartment and headed for the other side of the street.

"Do you think that she'll be okay?"

"I- I don't know, but all we can do now is wait."

Both Misaka and Touma sat on the bench that faced the direction of Komoe-sensei's apartment.

Misaka was the first one to speak. "What the hell just happened?"

"Magic I guess."

Misaka gave a slight chuckle at this. "If you had told me that 2 hours earlier today I would have called you a liar and zapped you on principle alone."

Both of them started to laugh. After a few moments though they started to remember everything that they had gone through.

"What do you think that guy was talking about when he said they were after the 103,000 grimoires?"

"Well from what I know, Index has perfect memory and now theses…. Bastards want to take her away, so they can protect that power. They don't even care about Index they just care about what she has."

"Tch. Why would someone do something so… despicable."

"Your guess is as good as mine. Though whatever the reason is it doesn't change the fact that Index almost got killed today because of me."

"Why are talking like that?"

"... Because it's my fault Index's robes were destroyed… if I never met her then she would be-"

"She'd be taken prisoner by those animals. You didn't do anything wrong."

"Your wrong. Index forgot her hood at my dorm, that's the reason why she went back there…. If it wasn't for me she probably would've gotten away."

"How do you know that? Huh! When did you become all-knowing!?"

Touma then looked over at Misaka who had a slightly annoyed look on her face.

"For all, you know all that stuff would've happened to Index regardless if she came back to your dorm or not. If you keep beating yourself up over this then what was the point of Index trying to save you!?"

Touma then let out a small smile. "I guess you're right. It's my turn to save Index. Thank you for everything"

"Huh?" Misaka's face then turned pink. "I-It was no trouble at all"

"Hey if you wanna go, now's your chance."

"What are you talking about?"

"If you wanna leave. I can't thank you enough for helping me save Index but, I also can't ask you to help me any further without being selfish. So if you wanna go this is your chance, I won't hold it against you."

Misaka was shocked. "Go?"

"But if you do go can you do me a favor and not mention this to anybody. I don't want anybody else to get involved with this if they don't have to, enough people have been hurt already."

Misaka simply stood up from the bench and started to walk away.

Touma sighed in relief as he didn't want to burden her anymore.

Misaka then turned around and started to crackle electricity."You IDIOT!" Misaka then shot a giant current of electricity a Touma.

Out of pure instincts, Touma managed to negate the electricity at the last moment. "Wha-"

_***SHATTER***_

"What kind of person do you take me for!? Do you think that I'm gonna just walk away from something like this!? Now that I know about this do you really think I'm just gonna just let you and Index go through this alone!? Why don't you just ask for help!?"

Touma then looked at Misaka and answered honestly. "If you were a complete stranger to me then I would ask for your help but, you're not your somebody who risked their life for me and I couldn't live with myself if you got hurt."

Misaka then turned red at what Touma had just said.

"D-Did you forget that I'm one of the most powerful espers in Academy city I can take care of myself"

(You sound just like her)

Touma sighed as he knew he had no chance of stopping Misaka from joining him down this path.

"Alright fine, but just so you know don't come crying to me when another magician comes out of nowhere and turns you into a frog."

Both of them found themselves laughing, it was like some kind of dark humor for them.

They both then noticed that the windows from Komoe-sensei's apartment were glowing a bright white light.

"So do you think it worked?"

"Only one way to find out."

* * *

When Misaka and Touma entered Komoe-sensei's apartment they found Komoe-sensei over a table with a lot of drawing on it. (Wait is that blood?)

Before they gave the table anymore thought they saw Index laying on the floor and saw that her wounds had closed up, and she was no longer losing blood. Both of them could feel a huge wave of relief pass over them. However, the Two of them were quickly shooed out by Komoe-sensei.

"I think we had enough excitement for Today, don't you think?"

"Thank you so much sensei I-" Komoe-sensei then raised her finger to motion Touma to stop talking.

"I want the two of you here by Tomorrow, so we can discuss her okay. I don't know what you two went through today but, it looks as though you both need your rest, so go."

Both Misaka and Touma bowed at Komoe-sensei "Thank you so much."

After that, the two of them exited the apartment together.

"So where are you going? Didn't your dorm just become a war zone."

"I think I'm gonna crash at my friend's house (Aogami)What about you, isn't it way past curfew for you."

"Nah I'm good. Kuroko's probably back from her judgment duties and could just teleport me in without anyone noticing."

"Oh, that reminds me. Don't I have to go with you to Judgement to give my statement or whatever."

"... Thanks for that but-"

"But what?"

"The deadline for updating the statement was for Today and we kinda missed it by like an hour.

"EHHH! Are you serious!"

"Yeah, that's kinda the reason why I was so pushy to get you back to the Judgement Office." Misaka then let out a small chuckle.

"Well my, I'm sorry that I made us miss the appointment?"

"Don't be, I think I got a pretty good idea on the type of person you are."

"Huh. What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing, see you tomorrow." Misaka then waved Touma off.

"Uh okay. See you Tomorrow Mikoto"

This word made Misaka stop dead in her tracks. "Excuse me!?"

"I said see ya Tomorrow."

"No, I mean after that! You called me by my first name."

"Oh, that's because we're friends."

'Wha- What!? You can't just decide to call people by their first name you know!?" Misaka was turning redder by the second.

"Why not? I mean you did help me save Index so it should only be natural."

"B-But…...Fine if you get to call me Mikoto then I get to call you.. T-T-Touma" Mikoto was crimson red as she finished her sentence.

"Okay."

(He doesn't even seem to care!)

"Fine…. But like I said before don't forget to come back here tomorrow and don't tell anybody about this either the fewer people that know about this the better."

"Yeah, I know. See ya" Touma then waved Mikoto off as he started to make his way to Aogami's apartment.

"Bye"

As Touma walked through the streets he could not help but think that he forgot about something important.

* * *

**Touma's Dorm Building**

As Stiyl woke up from the slumber that he was forced to endure he felt a great numbing pain coming from his jaw. The moment he tried to open his mouth he could feel his jaw resist. He then realized that he was pinned down to the ground with a metal railing. Unable to speak a single chant or cast a single spell without burning himself he waited until his partner found him.

This took over an hour.

Suddenly a woman with long black hair tied up in a ponytail appeared. She wore a short white T-shirt tied that into a knot at the bottom, the jeans she wore had one of its pants leg cut off to be very short. "Stiyl is that you?"

"Gibberish" (It took you long enough!)

"What happened to you!? Wait where's Index!?" The woman was panicking as she quickly removed the metal railing that was pinning Stiyl down with ease.

"Gibberish" (Someone else got to her before I could retrieve her)

"What?"

"Gibberish" (Just heal me already!)

* * *

**Authors Notes**

**The reason why Touma's left hand was able to work against Stiyl's Innocentius was because of how both of them operated. His left absorbs supernatural phenomenons at an exponential rate so the faster something appears the faster that it would be absorbed. Also even in the light novels, it showed that Innocentius self-regeneration ability can be overtaxed if used too much, so when Touma introduced something that would absorb Innocentius faster than it could regenerate it was only a matter of time before it completely absorbed Innocentius.**

**The reason why Touma and Misaka decided to keep this whole thing a secret for as long as possible is that they are basically the same person when it comes to how they operate. ****They both hate endangering others and prefer to solve their problems on their own despite their better judgment.**

**Komoe-sensei was referencing the fact that Touma was interested in girls who were level 5**

**Touma decided to call Misaka, Mikoto because he's pretty lax when it comes to names.**

**(Real reason: It's easier to write it this way since Misaka and Misaki are very similar)**

**Tune in next time for**

**103,000 Problems**


	13. Chapter 13 103,000 Problems

**Hey, guys thank you for your support and for reading a Certain Scientific Counter. Sorry for the delay I just got caught up reading NT22 as well as another fanfic. So without further ado the newest chapter.**

**Anti-Mage 29- This is true all in Touma's harem have their own unique personality and goals in life.**

**BlueJack22- Remix style.**

**Fortitude501- I actually cut the chapter in half for dramatic effect. And I see what you are talking about and actually finally read Road to Misfortune**

**Savior555- Thank you. And While I love writing Misaki there wouldn't be much she could do. If she read Index's Mind it would be the equivalent to committing suicide since she would see all of the Grimoires so Touma had to have a better understanding before getting Misaki involved.**

**MarkGib- And this was not so fast.**

**Whwsms- Kanzaki can't understand Gibberish she just didn't realize that Stiyl had broken his jaw.**

**Graeskog-Thank you. The way that Touma and Mikoto go about to solve a problem is very different since both of them have a very different fighting style as well as the fact that they both have very different life experiences especially dealing with conflict. And I've been slowly but surely improving upon my grammatical errors. You should see my rough drafts Also after reading other fics I decided to stop censoring words or just use the**** like you mentioned Thanks.**

**Creus- Thank you! Although when she finally does find out…..**

**Sergio644- No I was just saying that they had the same approach when it comes to asking for help they both usually never do and like to solve problems on their own. Thank you and here's the next chapter.**

**Shitshooter- Thank you and don't worry I already planned it all out. And about the tags, I usually just add them when someone becomes a main part of the cast and gets their own chapter.**

**Rajarshi Sarkar- Touma the playboy hahaha! Nah he to dense for something like that to happen and I know that in Japan using the first name is reserved for people who are close, but I don't see many of my friends standing up to a fire-wielding magician so I'd say their, good friends. And Just because Touma started to call her by her name doesn't mean that she'll do the same.**

**Guest- Don't worry Misaki will almost always be a part of the story unless she's not.**

**Robby- Thank you (****Terima Kasih)**

**Robby- here it is (****Ini dia)**

**Robby Thank you and there is (Terima Kasih dan ya)**

**Robby- Yes (iya nih) Sorry if there are any mistranslations google translate and everything**

**Confederate- Thank you and What's a beta reader? And how do you get one?**

**103,000 Problems**

**July 20**

Due to the events of today, Mikoto had a lot to think about not only because she learned Magic existed, but also because she had just learned that there are Magical organizations out thereafter Index and her 103,000 grimoires. But before she could head back to her Dorms she had to go to a local convenience store that's open late, so she could buy a burner cell until she could buy a real replacement. As she bought the replacement she remembered that her favorite Gekota strap was also completely melted and was immediately pulled into a slight depression.

Before Mikoto could head back to her Dorm she had to go to another security terminal in order to check the security footage around Touma's Dorms.

Mikoto had purposely left Stiyl there in hopes that his partner would come and get him, so she can get a good look at the person.

Once Mikoto logged into the server however she didn't see anybody, not even Stiyl. In fact, the Dorm Building itself looked as though it was never damaged in the first place.

"What the hell?"

Mikoto rummaged through previous security footage to see if there was anything to help her get a lead but, in the end, she couldn't find a thing which only made her concerns grow even more.

(Damn. Were they able to hack in Academy City's servers? It's not impossible but still.)

Mikoto let out a sigh and decided to deal with this tomorrow, today was filled with enough excitement as it is. So she grabbed her phone and called Kuroko to pick her.

"... Hello, who's this? How did you get this Number?" Mikoto could recognize Kuroko's voice even though the cheapest phone speaker.

"Hey, Kuroko it-"

"ONEE-SAMA!"

Mikoto quickly pulled back the phone from her ear in an attempt to save her eardrums from bursting.

"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN! I'VE BEEN WORRIED SICK!"

"Sorry, Kuroko I just got caught up with something and lost track of time."

"You could've had called, you know. Wait, what happened to your phone?"

"Oh, it broke. (More like it melted) so that's why I wasn't able to call you before. Sorry."

"Where are you now."

"Me," Mikoto then examined her surroundings after exiting the security terminal and the most distinguishing landmark she could find was Green Mart that she would frequent in order to read manga. "The Green Mart by our dorms."

"Onee-sama," Kuroko let out a sigh "You wouldn't have happened to lost track of time reading your manga again did you?"

"What!? Of course not!" This wouldn't have been a first for this happening to Mikoto so Kuroko's suspicions were justified but, that didn't mean they were true.

"... Okay wait there I'll come to pick you up."

"Thanks, Kuroko."

After that Mikoto waited for Kuroko to pick her up, and then she felt like a predator was hunting her down and then heard the all too familiar cries of a wild Kuroko.

"ONEE-SAMA!"

The ride back to Tokiwadai was bumpy, to say the least.

* * *

**Tokiwadai Dorms**

After making back to the Tokiwadai dorms Mikoto was relieved, to say the least, that the ride was over. Kuroko refused to let Mikoto go until she told her everything about what happened. However, Kuroko made the wrong choice in checking under Mikoto's skirt to see if she was still wearing her shorts, and found herself on the wrong end of an electric shock.

"Jeez, what's with her! The second I show up late she immediately goes there!"

Mikoto walked through the halls to get to her room when she came upon her worst enemy Shokuhou Misaki sitting on a couch in the middle of the lounge fiddling with her phone. It looked as though she was trying to call somebody but wasn't having any luck. Mikoto wanted to just ignore her but Shokuhou had a look painted on her face that showed that she was genuinely worried about something.

"Hey Shokuhou, what are you doing?"

It took a second for Misaki to realize that somebody was talking to her and another to realize that it was Mikoto. "Oh...it's you."

"What's wrong?"

"Oh. It's nothing I'm just trying to get a hold of somebody, but they won't pick up."

"Well, maybe they're busy."

Misaki simply shook her head. "No, even if he was busy he'd still pick up or at least text me." Misaki then proceeds to pick up her phone again and dial.

(He? Is she talking about her boyfriend)

"Well constantly calling them isn't gonna make them pick up any faster you know."

The golden blonde simply responded to this by giving Mikoto a sharp glare. It was one of the first times Mikoto actually saw Misaki's true emotions, even if it was just pure annoyance.

"Hey if you want, I could help you find the guy"

For a moment Misaki was genuinely shocked that she would even offer to help her, it wasn't like they were friends or anything.

"Thank you," If it had been anyone else she would've accepted but, because it was her, Misaki's pride wouldn't allow it. "But I'll have to decline I'll just check up on him tomorrow I mean how much trouble could he really have gotten himself into."

"Okay suit yourself"

"Wait, a second"

"Huh?"

"Tomorrow," Misaki let out a deep sigh. "Junko has something to ask you."

"Junko?"

Misaki sighed once again "The girl with purple hair and ringlet curls her name is Hokaze Junko."

"Oh her." While Mikoto couldn't remember the girl's name there was no way she could forget her hair.

"Yeah so before you leave to do…. Whatever you do, go see her."

Mikoto was skeptical at first but against her better judgment, she decided to do it anyway before heading to check up on Index.

"Alright, then bye."

The golden blonde simply stood up from her chair and went off to her own room.

(What's her deal?)

* * *

**July 21**

Once Mikoto woke up from her deep slumber she quickly took a shower and got dressed it seemed that Kuroko had Judgment matters to take care of, so she left without waking her. Mikoto then took the liberty of decorating her backup phone with the extra Gekota phone accessories she had. Once Mikoto made it out of her room she remembered that she had to go check on Hokaze before heading out to check on Index. Though she quickly realized that she had no idea where to find her. The Tokiwadai Dorm building was a big place, and they never really ran in the same circles before, so she had no idea where to start looking. So before she started her search she decided to go to the dining hall to get some breakfast. Once she arrived she was greeted by a familiar maid in training riding on a cleaning robot?

"Oh hey Misaka-san"

"Hey miss Tsuchimikado" (Wait a minute where do I remember that from?)

"I haven't seen you here in a while"

"Really I mean I've been busy so maybe that's why?" (In truth Mikoto would usually just get breakfast somewhere else, so she could avoid running into Shokuhou or her clique but today she actually had to find them so it wasn't really an issue.)

The maid in training let out a very unconvinced look from her face while she served Mikoto her breakfast. "So what have you been up to?"

"Oh, you know, (Fighting Fire wielding magicians) The usual."

"Really from what I heard from my Onii-sama you were responsible for stopping the Graviton Bombings."

"Huh, you have a brother?"

"Step-brother to be more precise, he's the reason I've decided to become a maid in the first place, he really great guy."

"Okay. Hey, Makia do you have any idea where I can find some girl named Hokaze Junko, I was supposed to meet her Today but I have no idea where to find her."

"Oh you wanna find Hokaze-sama," The cleaning robot the girl was riding started to move in the direction opposite to where Mikoto was sitting, "She's usually over there by her club room, I'm usually the one to deliver snacks to her meeting, although no one else really goes in there."

"Wait is this like one of Shokuhou clique's clubs?" Mikoto was now very skeptical about heading in there, she didn't want to have to deal with the hassle of dealing with any more of Shokuhou's schemes.

"No, it' nothing like that it's…. You'll just have to see it for yourself" The young maid in training said dryly while shaking her head.

"Okay, can you take me there after I finish my breakfast."

"Sure, and I'm sure she'll be happy for the company."

* * *

Once Mikoto finished her meal she followed Makia who somehow managed to steer the cleaning robot to the club door without any issue. If Mikoto didn't know any better she would've suspected that Makia was also an electromaster subtly controlling the cleaning robot however, she couldn't see any electricity emanating from Makia with her EM vision. Once they arrived at the club door however something immediately caught Mikoto's eye. It was a Gekota sticker right on the door.

"I-I-Is that Gekota?" Mikoto's face was that akin to when someone sees dry land after being lost at sea for weeks.

"Yeah" The maid responded dryly. "Poor girl not a single person ever showed up, save for whenever Miss Shokuhou-san would drop by."

"W-W-What is this place." Mikoto's eyes were glued to the Gekota sticker at this point.

"You don't know? It's the Gekota fan club, although-" When Makia opened her eyes she had realized she had already missed Mikoto who had rushed right past her.

The moment Mikoto entered the room she felt as though she had found paradise. Gekota merchandise cluttered the room ornately decorated across it. There were beautiful chairs aligned to point at the center of the room although there was no one actually there save for one ringlet-haired girl.

The moment the Ringlet haired girl caught someone opening the door she jumped to her feet in excitement as this was one of the first times anyone has actually entered save for the maids when they were to bring her club snacks.

"H-H-Hello Welcome to the Gekota Fan Club" This seemed to be the first time the girl had actually said this reheated line but Mikoto didn't seem to care.

"Where-Where has this been" Her eyes beamed with joy with every turn of her head.

"Well, the club only recently started."(1 month to be precise).

"I never knew that-" The young electromaster quickly found herself releasing small tears of joy. "-There were other people our age that liked Gekota."

"Same! It's a pain that they label them only for kids though".

"R-Right" Mikoto had finally found another kindred spirit after all this time.

"When I'm at the line at the stores all the moms with kids give me the strangest looks."

"I know how you feel. I can't even go out to buy the newest Gekota merch on release day because of Kuroko."

"I wish they would've taken some pointers from when they did the mail order for the anniversary edition."

"Ugh!" the young electromaster shook her head in sadness "I still haven't been able to get that one I had to do that stupid demonstration in Russia."

"Oh, I actually managed to get my hands on two! One to play with and one for my collection."

(Lucky)

"If you want I could give the other the one."

"ARE YOU SERIOUS!"

"Yeah I mean this is the first time I actually ever saw someone around my age who liked Gekota as much as me."

The Electromaster then grabbed her hands and thanked god she had actually taken Shokuhou's advice…

_Wait a minute SHOKUHOU!_

"Hey just out of curiosity, Shokuhou didn't put you up to this right?"

"No of course not. Why?"

"Because yesterday Shokuhou mentioned to go, see you today?"

"Oh I know, that's because in a few days I'll be having the Gekota themed party"

"REALLY" Mikoto could hardly keep her excitement in check.

"Yes it's like a recruitment thing I do every few weeks to try new members" (not that it actually ever worked)

"Seriously where has this been." {In truth Kuroko would take down all the recruitment posters from Tokiwadai dorms whenever Hokaze would put them up in an attempt to wean her Onee-sama off of Gekota}

"Yeah it's gonna be fun we're even gonna have an Ultra rare collectible up for display."

"Really what is it."

"It's the signed first edition of 'Gekota meets Pyonko'"

Mikoto's jaw practically hit the floor when she heard this. To her this like the holy grail of all Gekota merchandise.

"No way! I thought that was a myth! I spent all day looking for that book last year, they practically had to drag me back to the dorms to get me to stop looking for it."

Hokaze simply nodded.

"How did you ever get that!?"

"Actually, it's on loan."

Mikoto's mind raced on whom this mysterious benefactor could be. They would have to be the most benevolent person in the world to agree to actually loan something that valuable to a middle school student. Whoever it was Mikoto wanted to meet them in person.

Mikoto took a moment to clear her throat. "Hokaze-san, do you know who the book is on loan from?"

"Yes. It's from the Queen."

….

At that moment Mikoto's world started to crumble. She could accept something as foreign as magic existing, she could accept a boy being able to negate esper abilities, and she could even accept that same boy being able to counter them but this. She could not accept this.

Mikoto was in utter disbelief "Y-Y-You gotta be kidding me. Right?"

"No why?" Hokaze said ignorant of the fact that her recent comment just sent this girl into a spiral of questioning everything that she knew.

"I- It's just that I never thought…. That… Shokuhou would actually like Gekota, no offense, but she never really seemed the type."

"Oh that's completely understandable and no the Queen isn't actually a fan of Gekota, but she helped me continue to be one."

"What are you talking about?"

Hokaze took a breath and remembered the events of last year. "Last year I wasn't as open about how much I liked Gekota, it wasn't as though I liked him any less though."

"I get it it's hard trying to be yourself, especially when others put you on another standard than others."

"Then you get it right?"

"Totally even today Kuroko would constantly harass me on my tastes, but I always just take them in strides and keep moving forward."

Hokaze simply gave a warm smile "Well it was a little different for me though, I wasn't as strong as you when it came to my own beliefs, in fact for the longest of times I would hide the fact that I liked Gekota from everyone."

"Wait does that mean."

Hokaze nodded. "Yes even the Queen, I was afraid that if she ever found out, then she wouldn't want me around anymore so when she did find out I was sure that she was going to kick me out, but instead she helped me, she showed me that I shouldn't try to hide who I truly was."

"Really" (I never thought that someone like Shokuhou would do something like that)

"Yes if it wasn't for her than I would still be a closet Gekota fan and I never would have started this club."

"Shokuhou really did all of that for you?"

"Yes, she even bought me this." Hokaze then presented her Gekota wand curler.

Mikoto was speechless not only because that was a super rare collectible but also because she never pictured Shokuhou as the type do care about others she always thought of her as someone who just manipulated people and used them as pawns.

"Wait, so how did she get her hands on the book" Mikoto half expected that Shokuhou would've used her powers to get her hands on this.

"Oh, it was a gift from the Queen's Boyfriend."

….

There were very few times that Mikoto was actually jealous of Shokuhou but this had to be number two on the list of things that she wished she had of hers.

"Y-You gotta be kidding me right. She actually has a boyfriend who likes Gekota." There were very few people her age that still liked Gekota and even fewer of them were boys "Unicorns don't exist" she muttered under her breath.

"What was that?"

"Nothing just lamenting. So Shokuhou really does have a boyfriend."

"Ah yes the Queen's boyfriend, he's actually the reason why I started the club in the first place he said that I should try to find other people who liked Gekota too."

Mikoto let out a deep sigh. "Of course he did."

"Yeah if it wasn't for him I never would have thought about making a club. So what do you say do wanna join?"

"Yeah of course."

Mikoto then proceeds to sign her name on the member sheet and saw that she was actually the only other member but that really didn't bother her since now she had a new friend to talk to even if she was a part of Shokuhou clique.

"So what do we do exactly."

"Nothing much apart from just chatting although if we ever got enough members to join we could have a private tour of Gekota land"

"Seriously how many members would we need?"

"At least 12"

"Ugh" (She's literally the only other person I know who likes Gekota, maybe I could convince Kuroko to join too?)

"Well, I'll see if I can find anyone else who wants to join but right I gotta go. It was nice meeting you Hokaze-sama".

"You too"

* * *

**Komoe-Sensei's apartment**

After finding her way back from to Komoe-sensei's apartment she realized that she was a bit late in arriving and thought that Touma was already inside, but to her surprise, she saw the spiky-haired boy running up to her exhausted. He looked as though he had been through hell and back.

"What the heck happened to you."

"Heh" the unlucky boy laughed dryly

"Well first when I went to my friend's house they didn't have a spare futon for me to sleep on, so I ended up roughing it on his floor, and when I woke up I realized we forgot about the magician we left at my dorm."

"Wait you actually forgot about him? How big of idiot are you?"

"Wait so you knew!?"

"Yeah I left him there on purpose, so we could find out what his partner looked like, though they managed to hack the security footage so that's out of the question."

"Hehe" Touma chuckled dryly. " Well remember when I kicked in the door to my dorm."

"Yeah. What about it?"

"Well, it turns out that the magician kinda had a grudge against me and set my entire kitchen on fire."

"Seriously!"

"Yeah but that's the good part, because of the small fire the looters couldn't get anything from my dorm."

"Wait, you had looters!"

"Yeah they kinda trashed my whole apartment" {In truth that was just the other male tenants who hated the fact that Touma had a dorm Twice the size of theirs}

"Wait you said that was the good part."

"Yeah…"

In truth, Touma didn't really seem to mind his apartment getting trashed since most of his stuff was garbage anyway and everything important was still safe, although he did lose a huge chunk of his manga collection in the looting. The worst part about the whole thing was when Misaki decided to visit Touma's apartment. She was a lot less forgiving about the whole situation. To make matters worse when she went to inspect Touma's apartment she found the Delta's forces stash of COLLECTIBLES. Apparently, he had agreed to hold onto them before he lost his memories and completely forgot where he put them so eventually the other member just gave up on trying to find it.

Misaki forced him to burn all the contents much to the dismay of his neighbor Tsuchimikado who never gave up on trying to find that hidden stash.

In the end, Misaki forced Touma into going to the Judgement office later that day to file another report on the entire incident even though the entire incident in question was labeled an esper robbery gone wrong.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah…." The spiky-haired boy didn't sound convincing not even one bit.

"At any rate, let's go check up on Index"

The duo let themselves into Komoe-sensei's apartment only to find Index bedridden with a slight fever wearing his teachers bunny style pajamas

"Hey Index how are you feeling?" Mikoto asked inspecting Index for any lingering injuries.

Index sat upright from the futon that she was previously laying in "Better thank you for yesterday."

"No problem."

"Isn't the real question here how my teacher's pajamas perfectly fit Index.

"Touma don't talk down to me like that these pajamas are actually tight around the chest"

The moment Index mentioned chests Touma dropped the subject immediately. He could read the room and saw he was receiving some very, very hostile stares especially from Zapper who was currently sparking electricity. "I'll shut up now"

"Moving on, Kamijou-chan who exactly is this little girl." asked the small child sized teacher.

Mikoto was ready for this line of questioning as she had already prepared a plethora of excuses for why they were here and-

"She's my little sister."

(It's official he's the biggest idiot in the world!) Mikoto's jaw dropped out of the sheer stupidity of what he had just said. She was obviously a foreigner! How in the hell can she be related to him?

Komoe-sensei simply got mad at Touma for blatantly lying to her and proceeded to tell him all the reasons why it was impossible for Index to be his sister. All Mikoto could do was sit back and watch while this Idiot gets what he deserved.

* * *

Through some miracle, the Idiot actually managed to convince his teacher not to turn Index over to Anti Skill and to keep quiet about all of this though not before mentioning that she had to go out to buy groceries and that she might forget about all of this.

"She's nice" Mikoto chirped

"Yeah I know, we shouldn't get her more involved with the magic side than she already is though right Index" Touma then turned to Index for confirmation.

It was Index's turn to chime in. "Your right, it wouldn't be fair to her if she got anymore (involved) then she already is, using the grimoires can be a dangerous thing if done incorrectly she might end up killing herself with it."

"Is magic that dangerous?"

Index nodded. "Yes, even reading a grimoire can leave people brain-dead, I have protective barriers inside my head, so I'm alright although."

Mikoto had her own questions for Index though. "Hey Index do you know who was after you?"

Index let out a deep sigh. "Do you both really want to know what my circumstances are"

Both of them exchanged a quick look and nodded.

"England is a country of magic, and because of that, they specialize in dealing with magical threats and the main way they do this is by having their own special magical cabal for dealing with these magical threats. The necessary evil to help protect the world, Necessarius, the church of necessary evils."

"So the reason why thereafter you is-"

Touma was the first to answer "The 103,000 grimoires."

Index let out a sadden nod. "Yes, the grimoires I keep are dangerous there like an instruction manual on how all magic operates, if you know the equation you will likely know the way to neutralize all other magics."

"If the books are that dangerous why didn't they just burn them." Inquired Mikoto.

"The books themselves aren't what's important the contents themselves are, Magic is usually taught by oral instruction so it wouldn't matter if you destroyed the original grimoire the teaching themselves would live on."

"So what these magicians really want is to get a hold of the bomb in your head" Touma hissed.

"Yes..." Index looked as though she was becoming more and more depressed by the second. "If you were able to get your hands on all 103,000 grimoires you could twist the very fabric of reality itself when you can achieve something like that you become a magic god."

Mikoto turned to look at Touma and could see him get more frustrated by the second, she wasn't the only one to notice this though since Index was slowly starting to raise her sheets defensively.

"Why didn't you tell me this sooner!?" Touma howled.

Index quickly hid behind her sheets. "But, I didn't think you'd believe me and I didn't want to scare you off and… I didn't want you to hate me." Index looked as though she was about to cry.

"Hey calm down you're scaring her." Mikoto went to go calm Touma.

"No screw that! Don't look down on me just because you made some assumptions based on other people! You'd think I'd be shallow enough to really think you're disgusting just because you memorized a bunch of stupid books! You're a nun have a bit more faith in people!"

This statement stopped both Mikoto and Index in their tracks they expected Touma to be upset for others reason but not this.

Touma then took a deep breath. "I'm sorry I yelled at you, It's just…. Just trust me, Trust us, even if it's a little, just enough, so we can help you."

Index simply smiled in astonishment and quickly covered her face with her futon to hide the fact that she was crying.

Mikoto went over to pat her on the head to calm her down. "You don't have to worry anymore Index we're here now and I swear we won't let anything happen to you"

This only made Index cry even more as she never knew that there would be people out there who would accept her.

After the tears subsided Index sat up straight. "What about you're supplementary classes"

"Hey don't forget about me I'm not dumb enough to actually get stuck with supplementary classes, so whenever he's away I'll protect you."

"Hey, I heard that!" Touma spat out defensively!

This simply brought a bigger smile on Index's face, and they were both happy to see Index actually smile without holding anything back.

* * *

**600 meters away on top of a Building**

"I've looked into both the girl and the boy who are currently with Index….how is she?"

"She looks fine, who exactly are they Kanzaki?"

"The girl is known as the Railgun of Tokiwadai apparently she is a level 5 esper."

"Level 5, isn't that the equivalent of a saint?"

"Not exactly, though I don't particularly want to test that out with everything going on, I think she'll be our biggest problem though."

"No. What about the boy! He was able to bypass my magic with just a wave of his hands".

"Are you still upset that he broke your jaw?"

"OF COURSE NOT!" Stiyl screamed.

"Well, apparently he is one of the talented people."

"TCH. Figured as much. But that still doesn't explain how he was able to bypass them though."

"The talented ones usually operate on a separate set of rules then we're used to, well have to consider him variable. In any case, one of our opponents is on a level unknown to us and the other is at a level where a direct confrontation would be unwise and to make matters worse we have no backup. This is very troubling".

"In the worst case scenario, we would have to return to England and bring more reinforcements to take Index back"

"By the way Stiyl I did some research on your runes to see how they could've overcome them and a fatal flaw appeared."

"That's impossible."

Kanzaki shook her head. "No it's not and if we are going to stand any chance of retrieving Index you're going to have to start laminating your rune cards. I found if even a bit of water came into contact with it, the rune itself would begin to warp."

Stiyl was taken aback at this and was a bit embarrassed about how he missed something so important.

Stiyl then looked back into his binoculars and saw Index smiling along with the boy and girl from yesterday" She looks happy though."

"I know it must be hard for you"

"TCH I'm used to it, for now, I say we wait until we can get them separated and secluded from one another. Especially the girl if she can even equate to half of your power there's no telling at the amount of collateral damage we'll take."

"Agreed"

* * *

**Komoe-sensei apartment**

"Hey, Mikoto" The young electromaster suddenly found herself blushing.

"Are you seriously gonna keep calling me by my first name!"

Index then looked up in surprise. "So your name is Mikoto"

Mikoto actually momentarily forgot that Index was right there. "Yeah it's Misaka Mikoto"

"Mikoto huh?"

"Actually Index in Japan you're actually supposed to call someone by their-"

Before Mikoto could teach Index proper Etiquette she decided how she would address them. "So it's Mikoto and Touma got it."

"Okay, so anyway like I was saying before Mikoto we're gonna have to get Index a fake id."

"WHAT" Mikoto cried. "What do mean get her a fake id and how do you even know how to get one!" Mikoto demanded incredulously.

"What I mean is as it stands right now Index has no ID, so once she gets better I rather her not have to be afraid of every Anti Skill agent or Judgement officer out there," Touma explained in a matter of fact tone.

Mikoto took a moment to reflect on his answer and agreed that it was the best course of action. "Okay I'll admit that's a good idea, but that still doesn't answer my other question at how do you even know how to get one?"

"My friend Tsuchimikado."

Suddenly something clicked inside of the young electromaster head. "Hey this Tsuchimikado guy you're talking about, he doesn't happen to have a sister who's a maid in training does he?"

"Uh yeah, he actually does. How do you know?

(TCH figures) "Nothing I just know his sister" Mikoto then stared venomously at Touma. "Besides this isn't the first time you used his name. Remember."

Touma then started to sweat after realizing what she was talking about. "A-Anyways I have to get a picture of Index, so he can start making one for her." Touma then pulled out a small cheap camera from his bag.

Index then turned as pale as a ghost and started to panic. "AHHHHHH"

"What. What's wrong Index." Mikoto asked scanning the room for any dangers.

"CA-CAMERA THOSE WHO ARE SEEN BY IT WILL HAVE THERE LIFE SHORTENED, IT'S A CURSED OBJECT!" Index was in a frenzy.

"What no Index that's just some cheap camera that this idiot bought," Mikoto explained to the paranoid Nun. (Great now I'll have to be on the look for killer cameras as if my life isn't complicated enough.)

* * *

After managing to calm Index down they were finally able to get a good picture of her.

"All in all, I say this went well" Touma was then met with a glare from Mikoto.

"No thanks to you." she deadpanned

Index was glancing away poking her fingers together"Hehe sorry about overreacting, but in my defense…" She then looked away embarrassed. "There really is a camera that shortens people's lives."

"Well anyways I gotta go, I have a meeting at the Judgement office today."

"Wait a second before you leave to give me your contact info, so we can keep in touch in case anything goes wrong, besides later today I'm getting Index a phone." Mikoto then handed Touma her phone.

Touma then looked at Mikoto's phone and saw that it was covered in Gekota accessories. "You like Gekota huh?"

"Yeah you got a problem with that" She then sent an accusatory glare at Touma.

"No nothing like that, It's just good to see the real you, you know the one that isn't trying to zap me to Kingdom come"

Mikoto then started to blush "Just hurry up!"

"Okay done" Touma then handed Mikoto back her phone. "Well, I gotta get going to see you guys later." Touma then waved off to them.

"Bye Touma"

"Later Idiot, don't get yourself killed"

"Yeah, I don't that's up to me" Touma mumbled remembering that he was currently en route to meet a very unhappy blonde.

Once Touma was out of sight Mikoto turned back to Index.

"So Index what do you wanna do?"

Index took a moment to think and remembered what Touma said to her. "Well, Touma did mention something about Magical Powered Super Android Girl Kanamin."

* * *

**Judgement Office.**

Once Touma arrived at the office he was happy to see that the place was still standing. He was worried that Misaki might have gone overboard.

Touma then took a moment to rest as he had spent the last 40 minutes running here since the clock on his new phone was an hour behind, and he realized that he was late.

A chill suddenly went up to his spine as he felt someone tap on his shoulder.

"You're late" Touma then turned around very cautiously as he saw that the starry-eyed blonde he was expecting to find, found him.

Touma swallowed heavily as he carefully thought up his next words.

He was barely able to convince Misaki to agree to let him go to the Judgement office later, so he could check up on Index.

There was a tense silence before Touma spoke. "Hey Misaki"

Misaki simply stared at him

And stared

And stared.

And before you knew it Touma was sweating bullets.

"Enough. We're late enough as it is, comes on let's get going."

The two of them then found themselves inside the same office that Touma was in not too long ago.

Misaki had scheduled them an appointment to meet up with a senior Judgement officer, however, since they were so late they ended up meeting another officer one with a flowery headband.

"Hello welcome to-" Uiharu's words died inside her throat as she suddenly saw the same boy who had run off not so long ago along with what she considered a truly high-class girl.

This did not go unnoticed by Misaki however. "Is there a problem?"

Touma who was currently behind Misaki shook his head at the poor Judgement girl mouthing the words 'NO' The look on his face said that if she said the wrong thing then they'd both be dead.

Uiharu quickly took the hint as she did not want to become a headline on the local news for missing students. "N-Nothing" She whimpered.

Misaki then went onto explain to the Uiharu the reason that they were here in the first place.

"That's Terrible why would someone do something like that" Uiharu said with a serious expression on her face.

Misaki then nodded in agreement. "I know, I would have rather gone to make a formal complaint with Anti Skill, however," Misaki then turned and stared at Touma who was currently looking anywhere but at her. "Given the circumstances, we decided to go to Judgement instead."

"Do you have any idea who could've done this" Uiharu inquired.

"I don't know do we." Misaki then turned to Touma who starting to sweat.

"Nope, no idea."

"..."

"..."

No one in that room believed that statement, not even Touma.

Uiharu was the first to break the silence in the room. "While we're on the subject what is your relationship with Mr. Kamijou miss-"

"I'm his girlfriend" Misaki stated in a matter of fact tone.

Uiharu had to force herself not to react to that statement.

"W-Well in any case, going forward I'm afraid I'll have to continue this conversation in private due to confidentiality."

"No"

"E-Excuse me?"

"I said no"

"M-Miss Shokuhou-san I'm afraid you can't just-"

Uiharu was abruptly cut off when suddenly stars appeared in her eyes

"Misaki!"

"What! You heard her, besides knowing you, you'll probably just ask her to drop it."

"Still that doesn't give you the right to-"

Misaki then glared at Touma "To what Touma? Hmm, to try to help. If anyone is in the wrong here it's you. I know you're lying when you said you had no idea who did this. So until I figure who did, you've lost your ability to complain."

Touma was momentarily silenced by this since he knew all Misaki was trying to do was help and Touma wasn't making it any easier for her. "Fine, but no snooping around in her mind, she deserves that much at least."

"Fine" Misaki then clicked a button on her remote and Uiharu continued.

"-Say no. It doesn't work like that."

Before Misaki could press another button on her remote Touma spoke up.

"Please, I know it might go against some rules but, I know Misaki means well and is just trying to help me, so I'm asking you to let her stay."

Both Uiharu and Misaki were stunned, to say the least at the current events.

Uiharu contemplated for a moment about what he had just requested. The protocol stated that all official interviews would stay confidential between the Judgment officer and the victim in order to prevent the leakage of any information.

Normally she would follow Judgment protocols by the book, however, she was moved by how he defended his girlfriend and couldn't find it in her heart to deny him. So against her better judgment, she agreed.

"Alright then," A wave of relief then flowed over Touma. "However, know that going forward you won't be able to drop the charges unless you both do."

"Wait, what?"

"If you want Miss Shokuhou-san to stay you'll have to file the report under both your names meaning that both of you agree to drop the charges. Okay."

"Perfect" Misaki said as she grinned victoriously

* * *

**30 minutes later**

"Okay I think I got everything," Uiharu said while writing down the final notes on her computer.

"Finally" Touma was exhausted

"So is that everything?" Misaki inquired.

"For now, I'll be sure to call you once we have more leads to go on but, I'm not sure how long it will be until we find anything," Uiharu replied.

"What do you mean?"

Uiharu looked up from her computer to face the two of them. "Well you see there's this new drug going around called Level Upper so most Judgements offices along with Anti Skill's resources are currently trying to find what exactly this drug is and who's behind distributing them."

"Oh, I heard about that. My friend mentioned something about that yesterday."

Misaki quickly turned to Touma grabbing onto one of his shoulders. "Which one." It wasn't so much of question as it was a demand.

Not seeing any other way out Touma folded. "T-Tsuchimikado, he said something about a lot of low-level espers using it to increase their level…. Although I never really saw the appeal I mean even if it could work for me I would be kinda like cheating myself you know."

Misaki shot him an approving nod and went back to her regular sitting position.

Uiharu also let out a nod of approval "So you understand the basics at least, but because of this new wonder drug there are more and more cases of espers testing out their increased powers out without proper authorization," Uiharu's face then slowly became downtrodden. "Because of all the recent activities, most if not all Judgement resources are focused on finding this person that's why I'm currently the only member still in the office and my partner is still out there trying to stop as many people as possible."

Touma then turned the Golden-haired blonde sitting next to him and saw that she was in deep thought about something.

"Do you think the Level Upper Incidents and Touma's apartment becoming the staging ground for an impromptu burning man are connected?"

The look on Uiharu's face showed that she was a bit skeptical about that"What makes you say that?"

"Well based on what you said earlier about low-level espers testing their abilities it would stand to reason that one of theses espers in question may have been pyrokinetic testing out their fire on Touma's apartment."

"Huh…. You actually might be right about that. I never really saw it like that but, now that you say it, it does make the most sense," Uiharu then ran over to her senior Judgement officers desk to grab the proper forms to file the incident under the Level upper Incidents.

Because Touma's and Misaki's Incident was filed under the grander Incident known as the Level upper Incidents it would be a much faster process in order to get compensation for the damages.

"Excuse me Miss Uiharu was it?"

"Y-Yes Miss Shokuhou-san"

"If you don't mind it's getting a bit late, and we have to be going soon so would it be alright if we leave things off right here."

"Oh, of course, no problem just," Uiharu quickly rummaged through her desk drawers trying desperately to find something until find revealing two business cards. "Make sure to call me in case you remember something." Uiharu then handed each of them a card it had her name and work phone number.

"Of course. I trust you'll be hearing from us very soon isn't that right Touma."

"Y-Yeah"

"Okay bye thank you for everything… Wait can I ask one more thing."

"Sure what is it?"

"I trust you'll keep everything you find here strictly confidential correct?"

"Yes, why?"

"Well if you could not mention that I and Touma are going out to anyone who might spread that information around, that would be much appreciated."

Uiharu then had an epiphany and gasped (Two people in love separated by class, one a truly high-class girl, and the other a dashing prince from the slums, though they could never reveal their love for each other in public, it doesn't stop them from feeling it. So romantic!)

"Of Course!" Uiharu confirmed with conviction in her eyes.

"Uh Thank you." (What an odd girl)

* * *

"Well, I think that went well don't you."

"It would've gone better if you told her the entire truth you know"

When Touma went to say something to refute this he found that his voice had died inside his throat.

'Will you follow me to the depths of hell.'

Touma knew that if he told Misaki the truth then she would stop at nothing to help Touma even if it did mean going to hell. And that's when Touma realized what Index was going through and why she didn't tell him the truth. It was the same reason why Touma wouldn't tell Misaki.

To Protect her.

"Well?" Misaki asked while still looking at Touma

"Misaki you know that I care about you. Right?"

"What! Of course, I know that why would you even-."

"So trust me when I say I'm okay."

Misaki let out a deep sigh. "Alright I trust you, I know that you wouldn't lie to me without good reason. And I'm willing to bet it has to do with you trying to help someone right?"

Touma was about to answer before being cut off by Misaki waving her finger at him.

"But! If anything like what happened to your apartment happens again. You will tell me. We're a team, my Prince. I want to help you as much as possible but I can't do that if you don't tell what's wrong. I won't pry into this again but only if you promise me. Okay."

Touma then embraced Misaki and smiled. "I Promise."

Misaki then let out a warm smile. "Thank you"

"Ahem. Okay before I head back to my dorm there's still one more issue that we have to deal with."

"And What's that?"

"Your living arrangements my Prince. In case you forgot your apartment is currently uninhabitable."

"Oh yeah. I was thinking that I would stay with Aogami until-"

"No"

"But-"

"This isn't up for debate. No."

"Okay fine then where can I go?"

"I was thinking you could just stay in a hotel until they finished fixing up your apartment."

"I can't afford that," Touma whined.

"What happened to the increase in your allowance?"

"I don't get that until the end of the week and by the time I do they would've already finished."

"What if I give you the-"

"No"

"But-"

"Misaki you already know how I feel about borrowing money from people."

"Ugh fine."

The two were currently at an impasse neither of them would give in to the others request due to their own beliefs.

"Okay, what about this I'll let you stay with-" Misaki let out a deep sigh. "Tsuchimikado, but if that blue haired pervert even comes within a mile of that dorm than the deals off. Okay."

Touma took a moment to think it over.

"Deal."

Misaki then clapped her hands together. "Great. Now if you don't mind me I have to be off. I trust you'll call me if any important happens right?"

Touma then raised his hand. "I promise if anything happens that I don't think that I could handle on my own I'll ask for help."

"Perfect" Misaki than gave Touma a Kiss goodbye and was on her way

* * *

**Gemstone Research facility**

"AWESOME PUNCH!"

(DAMMIT SOGIITA! EVERY TIME!)

After witnessing another one of the level 5s antics, namely his habit of pushing through walls of the facility instead of using the door like a normal person, Kumokawa decided to cool off in her office instead.

"Every time. It's like….AGHH!"

Kumokawa then decided to get her mind off of things by checking her computer for any new updates. Once she logged in she was annoyed to see that Kamijou had never actually messaged the facility once since his transition into becoming a Gemstone, something that was supposed to be a daily occurrence. Even Sogiita knew that and he's…. Sogiita. So Kumokawa decided to call Kamijou but quickly found that his phone went straight to voicemail. And then when she logged into her computer she saw that the GPS on his phone was also dead. This didn't worry her as much since it wasn't very uncommon for Kamijou to have broken his phone although what did was the fact that he never got his phone registered.

As much as it pained her she would have to call her, to ask if Kamijou was okay.

"Why if it isn't the old hag.-"

"Yeah, Yeah, let's skip the pleasantries. I have better things to do today then shoot the breeze with you. Tell me is Kamijou okay?"

"If you're asking about his living arrangements you don't have to worry we already took care of them."

"... What are you talking about?"

"... That Touma's dorm was ransacked by a bunch of hopped up espers looking to test their power."

"WHAT!? That's impossible." Kumokawa then logged into her computer to check Kamijou's file and then saw an alert saying showing that he recently made a report to Judgement.

"Don't sound so surprised you know your starting to show-"

"Brat, you don't understand. I was here all night yesterday and I know for a fact that there was never an alert on Kamijou's dorm."

"What are you talking about?"

"The main part of my job is ensuring all Gemstones safety. So to better do that we constantly monitor them mostly through GPS but also through the cameras around the Gemstone's residence. Normally if any suspicious individual were seen through the cameras it would send an alert to the facility and I would have to confirm it and send Anti Skill to deal with it. But I never got an alert."

"..."

"So what happened."

* * *

**Komoe-sensei's apartment**

"So this is Magical Powered Super Android Girl Kanamin. I see so the wands their using acts as a medium through which their mana is more-"

Both Komoe-sensei and Mikoto were exhausted after having to listen to Index explain away every inconsistency with the show. It's been going on for hours now. And Mikoto even contemplated short-circuiting the TV to make it stop but, Komoe-sensei managed to talk her out of it.

"When I see that Idiot again I'm gonna make him pay."

Across the city, a certain Spiky haired boy felt chills run down his spine.

"Such Misfortune."

* * *

Author's Notes

Gekota fans classify Collectibles in rank

**Common**\- anything you can easily find in a store

**Rare**\- any items that are limited edition

**Super rare**\- any merchandise that had a very short circulation

**Ultra Rare**\- Items that were super rare that were signed to increase there rarity

**Divine**\- Only a myth although there are rumors that it is located in Gekota land

Kanzaki mentioned that Touma was a talented one referring to the fact that he is a Gemstone

Can you guess what's the first thing Mikoto is jealous of Misaki

Sogiita is currently in training to test his GUTS!

Tune in next Time for

**Index's Day out!**


	14. Chapter 14 Index's Big Day out

**Hey guys sorry for the wait I just wanted to release this chapter on Index's 15th Anniversary. Thank you all for supporting a Certain Scientific Counter and thank you all for commenting it really helps me out. Also, this chapter is going to be formatted a bit differently than others due to it being special. Also, I put in 3 short Omakes at the bottom. If anyone has any more ideas for a short Omake for me to make feel free to PM me Also if anyone wants to help proofread my stories feel free to PM me as well I know I'm not the best at catching my own grammar error. Without further ado Q&A. **

**whwsms-Uiharu: Shirai what's wrong?**

**Shirai- I feel as though a great evil has found its way to my Onee-sama**

**Anti-Mage 29- You are correct. Also, don't worry I'm still going to include the magic side it's just more science side character are going to be involved. Don't forget when Science and magic collide a story is born.**

**BlueJack22- 15th Anniversary special!**

**Savior555- Than you and Correct. Here is a new chapter.**

**Fortitude501- To answer your question I'll ask you one. What do you think the Delta Force did on all of those Missions. If you were able to correctly guess then remember this it wasn't Just Touma's COLLECTIBLES it was Tsuchimikado's and AOGAMI'S. Touma's lucky that Misaki just wanted him to burn the COLLECTIBLES.**

**Awardedall- Thank you**

**MarkGib- Thank you and Don't worry here's a new chapter.**

**Rajarshi Sarkar- Just read that and more or less. Also, it's Kumokawa's job to watch over all Gemstones not just Touma. If she could she'd just abandon Sogiita in the middle of nowhere and be done with it, but she takes her job seriously. And I'm hoping to introduce Mugino after the Deep Blood Arc.**

**Ultra Instinct Shaggy- Moto Moto a name so nice you gotta say it Twice.**

**Graeskog- The reasoning behind Touma's reluctance in borrowing money stems from him having terrible problems with debts piling upon him. An example he borrowed money from Aogami with 5% to buy a Gal game the same week he got in a relationship with Misaki and the place didn't accept returns. So eventually the debt started to pile up, it was only recently that he became debt-free. Also, thank you.**

**Sergio644- You are correct. Also, thank you.**

**Guest- Sorry if you got worried here's a new chapter :)**

**Confederate- No problem. And the line has been cast hopefully I'll get lucky. And yes it was a trick question XD **

**Robby- ini bab baru (here is a new chapter.)**

Index's Big Day Out

**July 23**

Due to recent events mainly revolving around magic, Touma found himself asking one of his friends for a favor two to be precise. In the end, Tsuchimikado agreed to make the fake ID but not to let Touma squat with him. Left with no other options Touma decided to sleep at Komoe-sensei's apartment much to everyone's amusement.

However, today was going to be a very busy day not only because he had to go to his supplementary classes but also because today would be the first day that Index finally got to go outside.

This was due to the fact that up until recently she had a fever and neither Mikoto nor Touma had the means of transporting her anywhere safely without risking being found out by the magicians that were after Index. But today was different since both Mikoto and Touma had finally planned a day for Index to enjoy.

First Mikoto would take Index the Tokiwadai dorms to show her the Gekota themed party. After that was done both Mikoto and Touma would take Index to the bathhouse, ever since Komoe-sensei mentioned it to her, it was all she talked about. Finally, they would all enjoy take out from Joseph's.

"Touma! Hurry up your gonna be late for your supplementary classes!" Whined the Silver-haired nun.

"Calm down I'm not gonna be…" Touma then glanced over at the clock on his phone and saw he only had 1 hour left to spare. "... Late."

The two were then interrupted by someone who knocked on the front door. Index was the first to rush over to the door and opened it.

"Mikoto what took you so long."

"S-Sorry it took me a while to get you a day pass" The young electromaster then handed Index her lanyard which held her ID and day pass much to her excitement.

"Thank you! I'll be right back let me go change." And she was off faster than either of the teens could keep track of.

"So you think it's gonna be alright, taking her to Tokiwadai I mean," Touma asked.

"Yeah, it shouldn't be that much trouble besides I'm not taking Index to the school itself, just the dorms so security should be more relaxed."

Touma then breathed a sigh of relief. "Good with everything going on, it's good to see Index finally happy to go outside."

"Yeah, she deserves to have a little fun every now and again."

Touma then started to head out the door. "Well, I gotta get going, call me if you need any help."

"Don't worry it's just Index how much trouble could she actually make, also don't forget were all meeting back up here, so we can take Index to the bathhouse, and not the cheap one that's around the corner!"

"But-"

Touma was immediately cut off by a sharp glare.

"Fine" And with that Touma was off on his own little odyssey.

"Mikoto look!" Index then presented her new lanyard decorated with Magical girl Kamin pins that Touma bought for her.

"It looks great Index, (Why did he have her hooked on that show!) "Come on let's get going."

* * *

As the two left the apartment Mikoto was bombarded by questions from the very curious nun.

"Mikoto what that." Index pointed to a large looking building off to the distance.

"That's the Endymion, I think Academy City has been using it to investigate Venus or something"

"Wow. I knew Academy city had impressive technology but this is something else."

"Yeah, it's pretty amazing isn't it"

"Hey, Mikoto."

"Yeah Index."

"You know how I tried to explain magic to you and told you it had to do with a lot of visualization,"

"Yeah what about it?"

"Well this Endymion thing I can't help but think it's just another version of the Tower of Babylon"

"Tower of Babylon?"

"Well in biblical times society banned together to create a tower big enough to reach heaven however God did not want this and punished humanity by forcing them to divide by making everyone speak another language preventing something like that from ever happening again."

"Why would he do that?"

Index simply shrugged. "According to the story some people building the Tower wanted to use it for nefarious purposes such as being admitted to heaven without being worthy in the end it doesn't really matter, the moral of the story had to do with man trying to oppose God but what I'm trying to say, is that a lot of magic has to do with the constellations."

"Constellations?"

"Yes, you know the alignment of the stars and everything. A Lot of magic is focused on that sort of thing so whenever a country decides to shoot up a satellite into space, every magician in the world has to take into account that specific satellite and has to update their spells accordingly."

"Seriously."

Index nodded. "Think of it like pollution if there are too many things blocking out the stars then almost all magic focusing on stars would die out. That's why the magical community tries to limit the number of satellites shot into space."

"Wait, what do you mean by limits them?"

"Remember what I told you about how England was a country of magic."

"Yeah. Wait you're not saying that.-"

Index nodded again. "Yes, England isn't the only country that knows about magic's existence. So most nations try to take that into account when developing new laws however due to the fact that science is an ever-growing faction in the world, slowly but surely the magic side has been losing influence."

"Wow, I guess you learn something new every day. Wait why'd you mention that in the first place?"

"Oh well you told me something that I didn't know, so I thought I'd tell you something you didn't know." Index then fiddled with her hands innocently.

"..."

"..."

"You just really like explaining thing don't you."

Index then looked away from Mikoto's accusatory glare.

"Thought so."

* * *

**Tokiwadai Dorms**

When Index first laid eyes on the dorm she looked ecstatic to be entering it. It was like she was entering a palace in England.

"Mikoto where were we going again?"

"To the Gekota fan club meeting."

"Are there gonna be any snacks there?"

"Yes, Index there will be plenty of snacks there."

Mikoto taking Index to the club meeting wasn't just to get Index outside for you see Mikoto has a secondary objective of trying to convert Index into a Gekota fan as well.

"So remember Index you a foreign exchange student and I'm here to be your guide okay."

"Don't worry Mikoto I never forget anything, besides what's the worst that could happen."

As the two entered the building they quickly found out the answer to that very question by running into a certain Judgement agent.

"Onee-sama…. Who's this?" Kuroko asked with a quizzical look on her face.

"Oh, this is Index, she's a foreign exchange student I agreed to show around Tokiwadai"

"Index? I knew foreigners usually have strange names but that one really takes the cake."

"Actually it's short for-" Index was quickly interrupted mid-sentence by Mikoto much to her chagrin

"Yeah I know, anyways we gotta get going so."

However, before they could leave Index was stopped by Kuroko "Index-sama do you know who you are currently with?"

"Yeah, Mikoto." Index chirped

Kuroko let out a deep sigh she knew foreigners would often call people by their first name but that didn't make it any easier to hear nonetheless.

"Yeah, but she's also known as the Ace of Tokiwadai the third-ranked level 5 esper in all Academy city."

"Really" Index then turned to Mikoto who was currently a bit embarrassed. "Why didn't you tell me this?"

Before Mikoto could answer Kuroko did it for her. "Well Index, Onee-sama isn't the type to brag about that sort of thing, unlike another Level 5."

"Who's the other one?"

"Well I'm hardly surprised you don't know since you only just got here, so let me explain Tokiwadai is currently home to two level 5 espers one being my Onee-sama and the other being Shokuhou Misaki AKA Mental out."

"What can she do?"

Mikoto took the liberty of answering. "Index, think of Shokuhou like a Swiss army knife when it comes to mental powers, she can read minds and mess with people's heads."

"So she's like a Satori?" {a mind-reading supernatural monsters in Japanese folklore}

"Yeah kind of like that, except she has more variety in her powers."

Kuroko then held Index's shoulder. "Yeah, but she couldn't even hold a candle when it comes to my Onee-sama, you have no idea how lucky you are," Kuroko then turned to Mikoto. "I trust that you'll show Index here what it's like to be a proper Tokiwadai lady."

Before Mikoto could answer Index chimed in. "Yeah, Mikoto said that we're going to something called a Gekota fan club meeting."

Kuroko's jaw hit the floor when they heard this. And Mikoto facepalmed.

Kuroko quickly let go of Index and teleported directly in front of Mikoto.

"Onee-sama! You've got to be kidding me after all that work I did to wean you off that, all those endless hours spent ripping down those posters just to have you end up falling into that crowd." Kuroko whined.

"Look Kuroko it's not what it-" Suddenly something then clicked inside of Mikoto's mind. "What do you mean by ripping down 'those posters?".

Kuroko then began to sweat.

"Kuroko!"

"Look at the time I must be off." Kuroko then teleported a safe distance away from Mikoto to avoid the onslaught of electricity she knew was heading her way. "It was great seeing you Index, I hope you have a good time today bye!"

"Bye Kuroko" Index said as she waved her off.

"Kuroko get back here!" And like that Kuroko was gone with the wind.

Index then turned to Mikoto. "How'd she do that?"

"Oh, Kuroko she's a teleporter."

"You espers sure have some weird powers."

"Yeah, I guess you're…... Like you're one to talk."

"Touche"

* * *

**Gekota Fan Club Headquarters**

Once Mikoto and Index enter club room they were greeted with a very passionate ringlet hair girls greetings.

"W-Welcome To the Gekota Fan club" she was still having trouble with greeting people.

"Hey Hokaze-san"

"Oh it's just you, hey Misaka-san," Junko then glanced over to Misaka's side and saw that she wasn't alone." And who might this be?"

Index then proudly stood in front of Misaka. "My names Index Li…. My names Index pleasure to meet you."

Junko gave a very warm smile in return. "Hello Miss Index my name Hokaze Junko, the pleasure is all mine, Well thank you for coming to the Gekota Fan Club, but I don't think I've seen you around Tokiwadai before, are you new?"

Mikoto quickly jumped in. "Y-Yeah Index here is a foreign exchange student that I agreed to show around Tokiwadai today, she's from England."

Junko tilted her head slightly and then went rummaging through her purse. "I wasn't aware that we had any exchange students coming, especially from England." Junko then pulled out her itinerary and looked through all the notes she had made previously.

The silence was then broken by Index who was walking up to an ornately decorated bronze pedestal with a glass dome that held something that resembles a book. "What's that?"

Both Mikoto and Junko were quick to respond.

"Is that it?" Misaka gleefully asked.

Junko simply looked towards Misaka and gave a nod.

That was all she needed to see to make a full dash to the display case.

Misaka's eyes were glued to the display case which held the Ultra-rare Gekota collectible. Misaka had rarely ever seen anything above a rare ranking so seeing something like this was akin to seeing a piece of art that was once lost to the world.

Index, on the other hand, was much more concerned over the fact that her temporary guardian was fixated over some book.

"Ummm Hokaze-san what's that?"

Junko smiled. "Well, you see Index that right there is an artifact that was once thought to be a myth but due to the dutiful actions of the Queen's Prince it was recovered."

"It looks like any old children's book to me."

"It's not just some book it's an ultra-rare Gekota collectible!" Mikoto snapped back.

Index then turned to Hokaze-san. "Excuse me Miss have you ever heard of a show called Magical Powered Kanamin."

This quickly snapped Mikoto out of her trance-like state as she quickly rushed to Index's side. Mentioning another show especial one like Magical Powered Kanamin was like blasphemy. "Index you can't just-"

However, she was abruptly cut off by Hokaze-san. "Yes, I've heard of it, why?"

"Well when I watched an episode yesterday I saw one of those frogs in the background, so I was just wondering if you knew why?"

"Oh that's easy, it's because the Gekota company owns Magical Powered Kanamin."

"Wait seriously!?" Mikoto was genuinely surprised she always thought that Gekota was its own entity.

Hokaze nodded. "It's true, The Gekota corporation is a Mass Media company, they own Magical Powered Super Android Girl Kanamin along with Kirugumar, in fact, I think they even have a foothold in Liberal Arts City if my memory serves me correct."

"Even Kirugumar! Wow! Just how big is the Gekota corporation?"

"Well they're a multi-billion dollar corporation, so I'd say fairly large, however, due to the fact that the corporation is so big their currently focusing most of their assets on its smaller ventures such as Magical Powered Kanamin, I even heard there getting a live-action movie."

Index eyes started to glitter. "Really!"

"Yes, it's due to release in a few months actually. I believe they started filming in Liberal Arts City."

"Woohoo!" Index then turned to Mikoto. "Mikoto, Mikoto can we go to Liberal Arts City can we please!"

"Uhh I'm sorry Index but that's kinda impossible I mean Liberal Arts City is all the way in the United States and-"

Index started to pout as her head started to look down in sadness.

However, Hokaze was quick to save Mikoto from looking like a complete monster. "Index you do know that Magical Powered Kanamin has an ongoing competition right?"

This made Index's head pop right back up. "What competition?"

"While the Magical Powered Super Android Girl Kanamin Movie might be a live-action movie they're currently looking for voice actors to fill in some smaller roles if you entered and won you could be in the next movie."

Index eyes glittered as she shot beams of joy throughout the room. "Really!"

Junko nodded. "Yes although I think the deadline is for the end of the month, so I would hurry with your submission."

"Thank you so much Miss Hokaze," Index then turned to Mikoto, "Mikoto can you help me submit an entry. Please!"

"S-Sure thing Index"

The young electromaster soon found herself in a bear hug from an utterly grateful nun. "Thank you so much."

Mikoto then looks up and turned to Hokaze. "No problem."

Hokaze then gave a warm smile in return.

* * *

After a while the two girls went over to the chairs on the other side of the room to continue their discussion, Index, on the other hand, went over to the snack table and began to make quick work of it devouring everything unfortunate enough to be in her path.

"Hey Hokaze-san, do you think anyone else will show up?"

"Not really, I usually try my best to advertise the club but, no one ever shows up"

Mikoto twinged in guilt after that last comment (Dang it Kuroko!)

"Misaka-san if you don't mind may I ask how you feel about the Queen?" Junko inquired.

Mikoto took a while to think over her response in order for it to sound as respectful as possible, so she wouldn't insult Hokaze-san.

"Well it's not like I hate her or anything, it's just that we really don't have anything in common to talk to each other with. She's usually out doing her own thing and I'm out doing mine."

Junko nodded her head. "So you're saying that if you and the Queen had a chance to get to know each other you'd take it?"

"Uhh, yeah I guess, what are you-?"

Junko then clapped her hands together. "Perfect because I think the Queen will make an appearance today."

"Wait Shokuhou is coming today!"

"Yes, she usually comes every other week to show her support and usually brings others from our clique with them, although they usually don't stay too long."

"Ugh well, I always knew I was gonna run into her eventually might as well get it over with."

Suddenly a single thought popped into Mikoto's mind.

INDEX!

(OH GOD WHAT'S GONNA HAPPEN IF SHOKUHOU READS INDEX'S MIND!)

Mikoto started to look paler.

"Uhh, Misaka-san are you okay?" Junko asked with a genuine concern over her friend's well-being.

"Y-Yeah I'm fine."

(Okay calm down Mikoto what's the worst that could happen…)

Suddenly another thought popped into Mikoto's mind,

(If Shokuhou reads Index's mind, will she also read the grimoires?)

Suddenly Mikoto became as pale as a ghost as the realization hit her like a train.

* * *

**Scenario 1**

Shokuhou walks in and sees Index

"Who's that?"

"That's Index she's an exchange student that Misaka-san agreed to look after"

"Oh is she now. *pulls out remote* (Let's see what secrets she has)

*Reads Index's Mind*

"Queen are you Alright…"

*Shokuhou starts to seize out and becomes brain dead*

"QUEEN!"

**Fatality**

* * *

**Scenario 2**

Shokuhou walks in sees Index

"Who's that?"

"That's Index she's an exchange student that Misaka-san agreed to look after"

"Oh is she now. *pulls out a remote* (Let's see what secrets she has)

Mikoto steps in "Hey Don't even think about reading her mind!"

Shokuhou pouts. "I wasn't thinking that."

Mikoto continues to glare.

"Fine" Mikoto turns around for literally one second.

(One little peek couldn't hurt) *pulls out remote*

*Reads Index's Mind*

"Queen are you Alright…"

*Shokuhou starts to seize out and becomes brain dead*

"QUEEN!"

**Fatality**

* * *

**Scenario 3**

Shokuhou walks in sees Index

"Who's that?"

"That's Index she's an exchange student that Misaka-san agreed to look after"

"Oh is she now. *pulls out remote* (Let's see what secrets she has)

***ZAAP*** Shokuhou falls to the ground unconscious

"AHHHH! WHAT DID YOU DO!?" Junko screams

"Trust me this was for the-"

"I NEVER WANT TO SEE YOU AGAIN! GET OUT!"

**Friendship Fatality**

* * *

"Misaka-san are you O-"

Misaka quickly jumps up from her chair. "HEY WILL LOOK AT THE TIME, IT'S GETTING A BIT LATE ISN'T IT."

"Umm it's only been 15 minutes"

"TWENTY MINUTES THAT LIKE ¼ OF AN HOUR, HOW TIME FLIES RIGHT!"

Junko's face started to grow more and more cornered. "Are you sure you're okay."

"OF COURSE (IT'S NOT LIKE I'M WITH SOMEONE WHO COULD MENTALLY MURDER SOMEONE BY HAVING THEM LOOK INTO THEIR MINDS OR ANYTHING!)

Before Mikoto could take even a step forward the door to the club room opened and on the other side was none other than the Queen of Tokiwadai Shokuhou Misaki.

At that moment Misaka died on the inside.

"Hello Junko, how are you tod-," Misaki then saw Misaka Mikoto standing next to Junko. "Oh, you're here."

Junko then jumped out of her seat. "Good Morning my Queen, And Yes Miss Misaka has been so kind as to join us today, I thought we could use this opportunity to improve your friendship."

Shokuhou then used her hand to rub the base of her temples (Not again, Junko.)

Misaka, on the other hand, was very much considering scenario 3 right now but couldn't find it in herself to actually do it.

"Um. Misaka-san?" Junko then lightly tugged on Misaka's uniform to grab her attention. "This is the part where you two start talking."

Misaka simply stood there like a deer in the headlights simply accepting their fate.

Shokuhou, on the other hand, was the first to respond. "So it's just the two of you then?"

Junko then got up and looked around the room. "Two? I could've sworn Miss Index was still here."

Suddenly Misaka snapped out of her trance-like state.

"Who?"

"She's an exchange student that Misaka-san agreed to watch over my Queen."

Shokuhou gave out a confused look. "Exchange student? What are you talking about."

"Well, Misaka-san agreed to look after Index and decided to show her around Tokiwadai."

This only brought more confusion to Shokuhou as this was the first time she was hearing about this. She then turned to Misaka and saw she was growing ever so more nervous. "Oh did she now."

While this all this was going on Misaka decided it best to make a graceful exit and simply leave the room unnoticed.

If only it was that easy.

"Where are you going Misaka-san?" These words stopped Misaka in her tracks.

"I was just going to go find Index and-"

"Perfect we'll accompany you," Junko replied eagerly.

"No, really you don't have to." Misaka was starting to sweat.

"No, no really I insist, Misaka-san," Misaki then had an elegant yet sinister grin painted on her face."Unless you don't want us to help you for some reason."

Mikoto shot Shokuhou a glare and reluctantly agreed. "Sure, happy to have the help."

Shokuhou then clapped her hands. "Great" She then turned to Junko. "Inform the rest of the clique, so we can find Index as quickly as possible, I can't wait to see her."

"At once my Queen."

* * *

**40 minutes later**

After wandering around the Tokiwadai dorm for over 40 minutes the search for Index was not going any better, and that's saying something since not even Shokuhou's clique could find a trace of her anywhere.

"Are you sure Index-san didn't just leave the dorms?" Hokaze inquired.

"Yeah I'm sure, I even told her not to leave the dorms, so she has to be somewhere."

Just then the girls were interrupted when Shokuhou's phone started to ring.

"Hello did you manage to find Index?" Shokuhou asked.

"Y-Yes my Queen but-"

For a moment Shokuhou looked utterly in shock.

"What happened, did they find Index?" Mikoto demanded.

Shokuhou's face suddenly became pale.

* * *

**45 minutes ago**

As Index continued what many would consider a slaughter of anything and everything edible on the table she quickly ran into quite the conundrum. That being that there were no snacks left, but she was still hungry. Normally Index would simply go to Mikoto and ask for more but, Index felt indebted to Mikoto especially after she agreed to help her make a submission to Magical Powered Kanamin. So Index took it upon herself to go get more snacks for all of them to enjoy.

And so she was off.

The moment Index stepped out of the room she felt a sort of freedom. It wasn't because Touma and Mikoto were keeping her in that room all that time it was more of a feeling of relaxation. For the first time since she could remember she felt safe, she knew there were people out there who would protect her and believe them when they said they would protect her.

But no moment lasts forever and so, Index began her search for the Kitchen. It should be mentioned that Index had no clue where anything thing was, much less the kitchen so this would be her own adventure.

As Index wandered the halls research through every room she could, this included some students who were unfortunate enough not to lock their doors, which sufficient to was quite a lot.

"AHH!"

"S-Sorry"

*This occurred over 10 times before Index came up with another strategy.

Index knew that continually entering through rooms would get her nowhere, so she did what any reasonable person would do. She started to follow the crowd.

As Index continued to follow the crowd she quickly discovered just how big this place really was. While not only housing many of the students of Tokiwadai it was also home to an enormous library an indoor gym and an Olympic sized swimming pool. To summarize Index journey was not going very well.

"Ahh, where the heck is this kitchen!" Index exclaimed

As Index continued to complain out loud she managed to draw the attention of a girl with short wavy light-brown hair who had blue eyes to match her power. "Are you alright Miss."

"Hmm. No actually I'm not, I've been looking all over this place and I can't find the kitchen here."

"If you want I could take you there" The girl quickly had her hand grabbed with gratitude.

"Thank you so much."

"It's no trouble really. My name's Wannai, what might your name be Miss."

"My names Index, it's a pleasure to meet you Wannai."

* * *

**Tokiwadai dining hall**

"Well, here it is" Wannai then presented Index to the Tokiwadai dining hall much to her awe.

"Wow it's so big, you guys eat here all the time"

"Yes"

"So cool," Index then began scanning the room and spotted the opening to the kitchen in the far back corner of the room," is that the kitchen?"

"It is, although I'm afraid this is as far as I can take you for I have to get going to a swim club meet."

"That's alright, thank you so much Wannai." Index then waved Wannai off before heading towards the kitchen door.

The moment Index entered the Kitchen she was greeted with a young maid in training riding a cleaning robot.

"WAH-YAH!" the young nun was startled, to say the least.

"A-Are you okay Miss?!"

After taking a moment to regain her composure Index replied. "Y-Yes I'm fine. You just….nothing."

"If you don't mind me asking what are you doing here?" asked the maid in training.

Suddenly Index remembered why she started on this quest, to begin with. "That's right I need more snacks to give to Mikoto and Hokaze. And some for me too if you don't mind."

The young maid looked even more confused. "Wait are you saying that the Gekota fan club actually ran out of snacks."

Index nodded.

Suddenly the cleaning robot that the young maid claimed as her faithful steed started to make its way into the main kitchen. After a few minutes, she returned. "Give me a few minutes and I'll have a fresh batch of snacks delivered to the club in no time."

"Thank you so much!" And with that Index had completed her mission her odyssey was finally to an end.

If only it were that simple.

Once Index made her way out of the Dinning hall the realization hit her that she had no idea where the club room was.

While Index had perfect recollect it didn't help that much when everything in the dorm looked identical. It was like uniformitarianism indoors.

As Index trekked through the hallways like a wayward child her unusual appearance caught the attention of a certain Dorm manager.

"Excuse me, what might you be up to?" the aura that she gave up was one that should not be trifled with.

Index, however, was very slow to the uptake on the situation. "Oh hello my names Index and I'm looking for my friend Mikoto she was showing me around here but I think I lost her."

The dorm manager then glanced down at the lanyard around the girl's neck and saw that it read Index L Palimpsest {something reused or altered but still bearing visible traces of its earlier form., Tsuchimikado was making a joke using wordplay}

"Do you mean to say that you were escorted here by Miss Misaka."

Index nodded. "She said she was going to show me around, so she took me to a Gekota fan club meeting"

"If that's so, why are you here?"

"Well when we got there she kinda ignored me and started talking to her friend, but we ran out of snacks and I didn't want to bother her, so I went to get more but I sort of got lost….but I eventually found the kitchen and there bringing the snacks back to the club room right now."

The Dorm manager then straightened up her glasses and said in a low but menacing voice.

"**Is that so"**

It was at this moment that Index started to get the message.

* * *

**Present Time**

"Well!? Mikoto screamed.

Shokuhou then put her phone away. "Oh, suddenly I remembered I have a thing." And with that Shokuhou walked off with her clique not too far behind.

"Please wait for me, my Queen."

"Huh! Are you seriously trying to run! I'm not done with-!

Mikoto felt an arm on her shoulder. "My, My Miss Misaka it seems as though you have lost all propriety."

A cold shiver went down Mikoto's spine as she realized who was behind her.

"H-Hi Mikoto." Index muttered from behind the Dorm manager.

"I-Index?" Mikoto muttered.

"Oh so you do remember Miss Index here, that's good to know. Although that doesn't quite answer the question as to why I found her roaming the halls like a wayward child."

Mikoto couldn't find the words to properly express the fear that was in her heart at that moment.

"Do you mind explaining to me why Miss Index here told me you shrugged off your responsibilities as her guide."

"W-Well I just took my eyes off her for a second and-"

"And what pray tell was so important."

It was at this moment that Mikoto knew, She F**** up.

* * *

**One Lesson in Prosperity Later**

After what seemed like an eternity Mikoto was finally free from the Dorm Managers clutches although it wasn't without its consequences. While Mikoto managed to get out of the entire ordeal without having her neck snapped she was still punished. Her punishment for abandoning her duties as Index's guide would be that she was forced to clean Tokiwadai's pool. Although since the pool was currently being used by the swim club her punishment would be on hold until July 25.

As the two started walking away from the dorms Index was meekly following behind Mikoto not saying a word to her.

"Is everything alright Index?"

"I-I'm so sorry! It's all my fault that you got in trouble! I just-"

"It's alright Index really."

"B-But you got-"

Mikoto then patted Index on her shoulder. "Really it's alright If anything I should be the one apologizing to you."

"Huh, but why you didn't do anything wrong."

Mikoto shook her head. "No your wrong, it was my job to show you around the Tokiwadai Dorms but, instead of doing that I took you to my club meeting in the hopes of getting you to like Gekota and ended up forgetting that you even there. Do you think you could forgive me?"

Without a second delay the young nun response "Of course! You're one of my best friends Mikoto".

"Thanks, Index. That means a lot" Mikoto then hugged Index.

"Although you're wrong about the part where you said you didn't get to show me around the Dorms"

"What'd you mean?"

"Well, it was because I felt safe that I decided to go out in the first place. That never would have happened a few days ago. Thanks to you I was able to walk without worry, although that Dorm manager still scares me".

"Ha, Yeah she has a tendency to that, doesn't she. Come on let's go to the park I'll buy you a crepe before we head back to Komoe-sensei place.

"Really! Thank you!"

* * *

**On a rooftop**

"Kanzaki what's wrong?"

"Tell me, have you ever heard of a man called Fiamma?"

Stiyl nearly choked on his own tongue at hearing his name. "Of course, but why would you bring him up?"

"The boy's hands…. They remind me too much of his powers."

"You can't be serious! Fiamma is the holder of the right seat of God to even think that he and that boy are even in the same league is-."

"Preposterous? Let me ask you this how else do you explain that he was able to effortlessly destroy your Inccintous?"

Stiyl looked as though he was conflicted. He knew that something was off with that boy when he first met him but, for him to be even considered in the same league as someone as powerful as Fiamma.

Before Stiyl could answer Kanzaki did.

"He did not simply erase your magic he absorbed it and from what I just recently learned he would've been able to fire it right back at you with more force, for that reason I believe we should target the girl known as Railgun."

"But didn't you say something about not wanting to risk fighting in case of collateral damage?"

Kanzaki nodded. "That was if I challenged her to a fair fight, but now…. If the boy's powers operate in the same capacity as Fiamma's then the safer option would be to launch a surprise attack against the Railgun".

Kanzaki let out a deep sigh "While I'm not fond of attacking a person when their guard is down there doesn't seem to be any other way, talking with her seems pointless since from what you told me she acts impulsively without thinking, besides they have already made their own opinions of us and will almost definitely not listen to our reasoning".

Kanzaki the clutch on to her katana "This is the best option…...for Index."

"Alright fine, but remember if you don't think you can win, we always have my original plan, even if the boy's powers operate in the same capacity as that monster, he wouldn't be able to escape.

Kanzaki nodded.

* * *

**A Certain Park**

As Index and Mikoto walked through the park something caught Mikoto's eyes. At first, she thought her mind was playing tricks on her but after rubbing her eyes the image didn't disappear.

It was her friend Saten levitating what seemed to be leaves around her hand.

"Oh my god, Saten!" Mikoto was ecstatic for her friend's accomplishment, After all, it wasn't long ago that Saten was a level 0.

This caught Saten off guard as she nearly collapsed after being spotted by Mikoto

"M-M-Misaka-san what are you-'

Before Saten could finish she was cut off by an ever-enthusiastic Mikoto. "This calls for a celebration wouldn't you say."

"Ah-"

"Come on I was just taking Index to get crepes why don't join us."

"N-No really it's nothing-"

"Huh? Aren't you excited, I mean you finally got an Esper ability."

Not finding any way out of the situation without seeming suspicious Saten reluctantly agreed to join them.

After the three of them were finally seated on one of the tables Index decided to break the ice first.

"Hi, my names Index it's nice to meet you".

"H-Hi My names Saten Ruiko, it's nice to meet you to Index." Saten then turned to Misaka. "Hey, Misaka-san how do you know Index anyways."

"Well Index is a foreign exchange student and I helped her out of a tight spot a couple of days ago and since then we started to hang out."

"That makes sense, I was gonna say she looks," Saten was then eyeing Index's robes. "Odd."

Index took offense to this. "Odd! These robes are a representation of my faith as a Sister I'll have you know!"

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to insult you or anything its just…. Those robes look nice on you." This what people would refer to as wrong place wrong time.

"So it wasn't bad enough that you make fun of my clothes now you lie to me!"

"I-Index, calm down I'm sure Saten didn't mean anything by it, Right." Mikoto then gestured to the crepe in Saten's hands.

"R-Right! Here you can have my crepe as a token of my apology."

Index then swiped the delicious crepe from the Saten's hands. "As a Sister, it is my job to forgive those who have sinned no matter what so all is forgiven Ruiko"

"A-Anyways, Saten I can't believe you got your esper ability."

"Y-Yeah it came as shock to me as well."

"See I knew with enough hard work you could develop your esper ability."

"Y-Yeah" Saten's grew ever more downtrodden

"You didn't even need to use something as bad as Level Upper to do it either."

Saten then twinged in guilt after that statement but before Mikoto could notice Index interrupted.

"Mikoto what's Level Upper?"

"It's just something illegal that people use when they don't have enough conviction to actually try hard, it's used to artificially strengthen their esper ability."

"That's terrible why would anyone use a drug like that just to get stronger?"

Mikoto shrugged. "I really don't know Index, some people just don't have what it takes to actually take the time to actually strengthen and develop their abilities, isn't that right Saten.

"Y-Yeah" Neither of the girls could see it but under the table, Saten was clutching onto her phone with guilt.

"Anyway's what kind of ability was that from the looks of it I think it's Aero hand"

"..."

"Saten?"

"..."

"Ruiko?"

"I gotta get going I promised Uiharu that I'd meet her later today." Without looking either of them in the eye Saten got up from the table and turned around. "It was meeting you Index. Bye".

"Saten are you alright?"

"Yeah really, I'm fine." As Saten started to walk away from them she never turned around for if she did they would be able to see the tears that were streaming down her face.

"She's not alright"

"I know, and I think I know what's bothering her."

"Really what is it?" Index asked.

"I think she's using Level Upper."

Index gasped. "But didn't you just say that it was illegal to have."

Mikoto nodded. "It is, I knew from the moment I saw her using an ability that something was off people don't just develop their abilities that fast overnight without doing something different, I was hoping that I was wrong, that Saten really did get her ability but-"

Mikoto had to fight off the tears that were starting to swell up in her eyes.

"Mikoto"

"But after seeing how she reacted to that now I know."

"But how did Ruiko even get her hands on Level Upper?"

"Knowing Saten she probably found some site online that showed her how to get it…... DAMMIT!"

Mikoto couldn't hold it off any longer and kicked over a nearby trash bin.

"Dammit! DAMMIT! DAMMIT!

"Mikoto"

"I'm, I'm fine just give me a minute to cool off would you."

Index nodded and left Mikoto alone for what felt like an eternity, Index didn't know how to react, this was the first time she had dealing with something like this. But she knew she couldn't just leave Mikoto alone.

* * *

Unknown to Mikoto while she was thinking over ways to deal with Saten, she was being watched from afar by a saint.

'Two seconds, that is the amount of time it would take to close the distance between me and her'.

'By the looks of it, she seems to be in a world of her own, No matter it has to be done.'

Kanzaki then pulled out a photo that she kept in her pocket and looked at it.

'This is for Index' Kanzaki then clutched her katana in her hand and was about to attack when something stopped her.

"Mikoto."

'Index!?'.

"Index I told you to-"

Index didn't know what to do, she didn't know what to say, what little memory she did have was filled with magical Grimoires. So Index did what she felt was natural.

'Index'.

Index embraced Mikoto

Kanzaki felt her grip loosen as she remembered that, it wasn't even a year ago when Index hugged her like that, looked at her like that, talked to her like that.

In the end, Kanzaki gave in to her emotions and let go of her katana.

'One more day, she deserves at least that much.'

And like that she vanished.

* * *

"Thanks for that Index"

"It was no trouble really but, what are we going to do about Ruiko?"

Mikoto sighed. "Well for once in my life, I'm gonna have to leave this up to Kuroko."

"The girl who could teleport."

"Yeah that's her, she's a part of Judgement so if anyone knows how to deal with this it would be her, if I went after her right now I don't what'd I do? Would I yell at her, chastise her for taking the easy way out," Mikoto took a deep breath. "For now I think the best thing for her is to get help and I know Kuroko and Uiharu can get her that help."

"So are you okay?"

"Not really I'd rather be the one to go after Saten but I can't be the one who goes after her."

"Why not, you're her friend aren't you."

"It's not that, the reason she took Level Upper in the first place was, so she could be like me, it has to come from someone who actually experienced being powerless, so I think Uiharu has this one covered."

"At least Ruiko will be getting the help she needs"

"Yeah, Why don't we go back to Komoe-sensei's place and wait for that idiot to get back."

"Okay"

* * *

**Part 2 **

**The saga of the Misfortunate boy**

Touma knew that Today was going to be trouble. Why you may ask it's simple really for you see whenever Touma experiences something lucky happen to him something even worse would happen to him in the near future.

What may ask was so lucky that made Touma worry so much about today.

Well, yesterday he went on a date with Misaki that surprisingly went off without any incident at all. To say that this was rare would be the understatement of the century, never in his entire time dating Misaki has he ever had a date with her that didn't involve his misfortune getting in the way. So he knew that Tomorrow was going to be hell on earth.

Touma's day went as usual with him stepping on the occasional puddle here and there ruining his shoes.

The day truly became interesting when he finally got to class early and experienced the true wrath of the Delta Force.

"Are you idiots done yet," Touma said while being pinned down to the ground by his fellow members.

Aogami then let out a war cry "Never!"

"How could you Kami-yan!"

If you're wondering why Touma was currently being attacked by his friends the answer is simple the moment people found out that Touma was homeless and that both Tsuchimikado and Aogami refused to let him stay over their popularity quickly went down the drain.

Tsuchimikado's sister didn't take to kindly when she heard the news that her brother refused Touma request to stay over with him and refused to see her brother until Touma had a place to stay.

Aogami on the other hand…... What little popularity he did have with the females in the class was all but erased.

This went on for quite some time until their teacher finally arrived.

For the rest of the class however, he could feel the stare's of hostile intent surround him.

"Such Misfortune"

* * *

**Komoe-sensei Apartment**

Once class was over he somehow managed to escape from the remaining members of the Delta Force relatively unscathed.

However, before he could reach the sanctuary known as Komoe-sensei apartment he got a call from Misaki.

"Hey, Misaki what's up?"

"Nothing, just calling to check in you'll never believe what happened though."

"What happened."

"Well, you know who the Railgun is right?"

Touma was lucky this conversation was over the otherwise he would've been found out the moment Misaki saw his face. "Y-Yeah"

"Well today she brought over some exchange student to the dorms and ended up losing her, I spent nearly an hour helping her find her."

"D-Did they find Ind- I mean the girl?"

"Yes although not before the Dorm manager found out that she lost her."

"I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that their conversation was anything but pleasant."

"PFFT You could say that again" Touma could hear her childlike laughter in the background. If only it wasn't at Mikoto's expense.

"So I'm guessing you had a good day."

Touma could still hear her giggling. "Yeah you could say that, how about you my Prince."

"All in All…. Pretty good." This was not a lie.

"That's good to hear, I'll call you later my Prince bye."

"Bye Golden Girl"

When Touma hung up his phone he made the journey up the stairs which he liked to refer to as the stairway to heaven. Since he knew that those stairs were gonna give out eventually and...well you know.

As Touma approached the door he mentally prepared himself for what was to come. He knew that his friends day probably went terrible and prepared himself to try to cheer them up.

So when he opened the door and saw that Mikoto and Index were smiling and watching a Gekota cartoon on the cheap TV Komoe-sensei had he was shocked, to say the least.

"Hey, the Idiot finally made it."

"Touma you're finally back!"

"Yeah…. How was your today Index?"

Index took a moment to reflect over everything that happened to her and said the first words that came to mind. "All in all pretty good."

Touma gave out a warm smile. "That's good to hear."

* * *

After a while, Mikoto informed Touma of everything that happened to them today including Saten's situation.

"Mikoto I'm so-"

Before Touma could say another word Mikoto stopped him.

"It's okay, I already called Kuroko, and she said that Uiharu confronted Saten about the whole thing and brought her and all her classmates in for questioning and observation."

"Well at least they're getting the help they need"

Mikoto nodded. "Yeah from what Kuroko told me, Uiharu nearly balled her eyes out when she wasn't chewing out her classmates for what they did. They managed to find the website where Saten got the Level Upper in the first place and took it down so that's a good thing I guess".

"You sure you're alright?"

"Yeah, Kuroko managed to make sure that Saten and her classmates didn't end up in protective custody, so she's still at her dorm, I'm gonna go talk to her tomorrow, I'm sure she going through a lot now."

"Yeah, I bet" Touma then let out a sigh.

The two were interrupted when they heard the front door open and saw a fiery-eyed pint-sized teacher on the other side.

"Come let's get going to bathhouse!"

The two shared a look before getting up to answer "Right!"

* * *

**Spa Resort Serene Springs**

The reason why Komoe-sensei was so excited to head to the bathhouse was that they would be heading to the Spa Resort Serene Springs. It was a famous spa being ranked third among all other bathhouses. Fitting for it was highly recommended by the Third-ranked esper in all Academy City who was also footing the bill for this entire trip.

"WOW! So this is a bathhouse." Index was in complete awe as she saw the multistory bathhouse.

"Yeah Index," Mikoto then turned to Touma as he became to look more worried. "What's wrong, Idiot."

"I-It's just that, are you sure about this? I mean we could always just go to a different bathhouse." Touma generally avoided places like this much to the chagrin of Misaki who loved places like this.

"Jeez, are you still on that! Fine if you want we could all just go-"

"No!" both Komoe-sensei and Index cried out.

"Touma please!" The look on Index's face broke whatever little resistance Touma had left.

"Fine. Let's go."

"Hooray!" The pint-sized teacher cheered.

"Oh, Father who art in heaven, thank you for showing this wayward lamb-"

Touma didn't stick around to hear the rest of Index's speech as he headed inside.

This wasn't the first time Touma came to this place since Misaki had managed to drag him here once or twice in the past although in both instances he never actually went to the resort's bathhouse. Instead, both him and Misaki would go to the resorts other areas such as the gaming center which was Touma's favorite and the Karaoke center which was Misaki's, although they would always end off the day by going to the food tasting area since Misaki loved to eat their organic foods.

"Okay so call me when you guys are done, I'm gonna go hit the gaming center."

"Huh Touma, you're not going to the bathhouse" Index asked.

"Nah, besides there are no mixed baths here anyway." He knew this for a fact.

"I knew that! But you said we were all going to bathhouse together." Index whined.

"Look it not that big a deal besides-" Touma then saw the look of betrayal in her eyes and then looked over at his friends and saw not a look of anger on their faces but a look of disappointment as they shook their heads at him.

Once again Touma found himself peer pressured into going outside his comfort zone.

"Fine"

* * *

In order to keep Touma, honest Mikoto gave him her stamp book to collect a stamp to prove that he actually went inside.

"So this was your plan all along huh."

Mikoto was silent.

"Fine" Touma then took the stamp book from Mikoto's hands.

As embarrassing as it was to go and ask the lady at the front desk to give him a child's promotional stamp he thought it was a better alternative than having everyone think he was a cold-hearted monster.

Touma returned from the entire ordeal no worse for wear physically.

"Here" Touma the handed Mikoto back her stamp pad as she thoroughly inspected it.

"Wait a minute she gave you three extra stamps!"

"Yeah, so what?" In truth, the lady front desk was giggling so much at Touma that she forgot she had already stamped his pad.

After that Touma left to go to the bathhouse.

Once inside Touma had to admit it was pretty amazing. The way that science had enhanced the experience was mind-blowing there were electrical baths in one corner a giant touch screen in they even had a herbal bath.

After about a half-hour Touma decided that he had enough and decided to head back to get changed.

However, fate had other things in store for dear Touma as the waterproof watch that the resort gave him in order to unlock his locker had seemed to malfunction. So he needed to head to the front desk and ask for a new one, dressed in only a bathrobe to get one, which wouldn't be so bad except that he had grabbed Index's bathrobes by mistake which were colored pink.

On his way to the front office however, he ran into a certain zapper.

"Hey…" When Mikoto saw Touma dressed in a pink robe she couldn't hold it in. "PFFTT HAHAHAHAHAHA"

"Yeah, yeah laugh it up, I'm glad that my misfortune can bring someone some form of catharsis"

"I-I'm sorry really, it just..." Mikoto couldn't even properly finish her sentence.

Touma eventually got the lady to give him a new pass to get his clothes but in the background, he could hear Zapper still laughing.

* * *

Once Touma finally got changed he found his friends all eating ice cream.

"I thought we weren't eating until we got back?"

"Index said she wanted to try some ice cream, so we got some." Mikoto then passed Touma his Popsicle. "By the way, I have a question."

Touma looked confused. "What is it?"

"How'd you get the scar?"

"Touma has a scar?" Index asked curiously.

Touma looked even more confused until Mikoto clarified.

"On your back shoulder genius." Touma then took off his shirt to see for himself. However, Mikoto started to turn red after seeing Touma shirtless.

"P-Put your shirt back on IDIOT!"

"Touma I never knew you had any scars, how'd you get it?"

Touma didn't see any reason to lie to them, so he told them the truth. "I don't know."

"Huh?"

"What'd mean you don't know!"

"I mean I don't remember ever getting this, this is the first time I'm actually ever seeing this."

"Touma are you… dumb?"

"GAH!"

Mikoto shook her head. "Index given the way this Idiot lives his life, it's a small miracle he's not covered in them."

"I'm still here you know!"

* * *

**Komoe-sensei's Apartment**

Once they made their way back to the apartment the group found caught in another precarious situation.

"Dammit"

"What's wrong, Mikoto?" Index asked.

"I just got a call from Joseph's, and they say they don't deliver to sketchy looking apartments"

A figurative arrow suddenly shot its way into Komoe-sensei's pride.

"Well, I don't blame them."

And another one.

"Yeah, I can see that." Index replied.

And another one.

"Well someone's gonna have to go pick it up."

Suddenly all eyes in the room turned to Touma.

"Wait why me! Komoe-sensei has a car!" Touma whined.

"Are you really gonna make a little thing like me go out and carry all that food back here."

(SHE PLAYED THAT CARD!)

"Fine" Today was not Touma's day.

* * *

**A Certain Park**

Since Touma so graciously volunteered to be the one to go get the food he decided to take a shortcut through a nearby park while. As Touma ran through the park he could hear the sounds of people shouting and suddenly he found himself running toward it.

"You don't look so tough!"

"Yeah number 1 my ass, if we kick his ass we'll be famous."

As Touma got closer he could see that same moppy white-haired boy from just a few days ago being confronted by two thugs.

The look on the boy's face, it didn't show fear nor did it show anger it just showed….

"Hey, Assholes!"

Everyone present turned around to see Touma jumping out of the bushes onto the pavement in front of the white-haired boy.

"Who the fuck is-" Before the thug could even say a word he found himself on the wrong end of one of Touma's right hooks that sent him straight to dreamland.

"What the fuck man-" Pattern recognition was not this thug's forte as he found himself going through the same treatment as the first.

Once both thugs were dealt with Touma turned around to the white-haired boy. "You okay."

"It's you again. The dumbass who kept breaking the fucking packs."

This annoyed Touma a little as he remembered what he went through because of that. "Well you seem alright, See ya later coffee thief."

Touma then started to make a break for it. Until he heard the ground shake and saw the same white-haired boy suddenly appear in front of him.

"Uhh, can I help you?"(How'd he do that?)Touma wondered.

"Why the hell did you do that?" The white-haired boy hissed.

"Do what?"

"Beat those fucking thugs up, dumb ass! I could've beat the shit out of them easily!"

"I knew you could've handled them, I mean you were the one who put a hole in a convenience store remember."

The white-haired boy looked even more annoyed. "Then why!?"

"That's easy, it looked as though you didn't wanna fight."

"Huh?"

"Look I don't know you that well but when I saw you it looked as though you just wanted to be left alone."

"..."

"Well if that's everything I gotta get going."

Before Touma could leave the white-haired boy spoke up."Do you know who I am?"

"Huh no. Why?"

"My names Accelerator and I'm the first rank esper in this fucking city."

"Okay," Touma deadpanned.

This was one of the first times Accelerator was genuinely shocked. "The fuck do mean OKAY!?"

"Sorry, it's just…. Sorry." It wasn't that Touma didn't believe him. Although maybe that did play a small part in his reaction. But it was mainly due to the fact that he had learned that appearances could be deceiving.

"Who fuck are you!"

"My names Kamijou Touma, by the way, I gotta ask, is Accelerator your real name?"

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Well from what I know most if not all the Level 5s have an epithet, Like Mental Out, but they also have a real name, so what's your name?"

Accelerator didn't know how to respond. "I'm Accelerator, that's all there is to it!" that sentence carried more weight than Touma gave it credit for.

"Jeez and I thought Misaki was dramatic."

"Who the fuck is that?"

Who Misaki, that's the name of my girlfriend."

"..."

"..."

"PFFT HAHAHA HAHAHA"

"What's so funny?"

Accelerator couldn't remember the last time he laughed, but after hearing that. He couldn't help himself.

Suddenly Touma was realized what was going on. "WAIT A MINUTE I REALLY DO HAVE A GIRLFRIEND!"

"PFFT HAHAHA! YEAH! TOTALLY! HAHAHAHAHA!

* * *

To be honest, Accelerator didn't know why he decided to follow Touma. Normally he would have just laughed at him and went about his day. But something was different. Accelerator would classify people into two camps one were people who just wanted to use him for experiments while the other were people who just wanted to prove themselves by beating him. And to be honest this was the longest conversation with another person that he ever had since he got his powers.

"So what's it like being a level 5?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Well I mean just a few days ago I was a level 0 and while I hang around other people who also have that rank they each seem to treat it a different way. So what's it like for you?"

"Wait a minute, if you were a level 0 then what are now?"

"Well technically I'm classified as a Gemstone"

"What!? That doesn't make any sense?"

"Yeah tell me about," Touma said in a depressed sounding voice.

"So what you're like that dumb ass from YouTube?"

"N-No! I am nothing like that guy!" Touma did not want people to associate him with that lunatic.

Accelerator looked unconvinced. To be fair Touma had the same haircut as him.

"Where the hell are you going anyway?"

Well, I'm going to Joseph's to pick up some take out for my friends. Hey, something just crossed my mind."

"That must have been a long and lonely journey." Accelerator deadpanned.

"Screw you! But seriously I just realized how the hell am I supposed to carry all that stuff?"

"Are you serious!? You didn't even think that far ahead."

"..." Touma looked away from Accelerator.

Accelerator just put his hand on his face (What an idiot)

"Hey Accelerator do you think you could help me carry the food?"

"What? Why the hell would I do that".

"Out of the goodness of your heart?"

"Pfft hahaha!"

"Yeah, I should've seen that one coming. What if I promise to buy you a new pack of Black coffee?" Touma didn't know much about Accelerator, but he did know that he liked Coffee.

"Are you trying to bribe me?"

"It's only trying if you don't accept." Touma then gave Accelerator a sly smile.

Accelerator had no reason to accept this ludicrous deal he had already bought a pack of Black Coffee earlier that day "Fine."

"Great, While we're on the subject of coffee, you might wanna cut back on your caffeine intake their Accelerator you're starting to get white hairs" Touma then started to chuckle.

Accelerator simply glared at a Touma.

"What a surprise. Another level 5 doesn't have a sense of humor." Touma deadpanned.

Accelerator gave off a small smile. "Nah we're just smart enough to know when we're hearing a shit joke."

Touma stopped in his tracks for a moment. "Not gonna lie. That stung a little."

That comment hit a bit too close to home for Touma

* * *

**Joseph's Dinner**

"What the hell! I thought you said this was just for 4 people there enough here for a goddamn buffet!" Accelerator was referring to the fact that they were stuck carrying 7 bags filled to the brim with takeout containers.

"It is just for 4 people!" (How much did Zapper think we were gonna eat!)

The restaurant employees looked at the boys with a mixture of confusion and pity.

* * *

**Touma's Dormitory**

Through what some people might call a miracle the boys actually did manage to carry all the bags with Touma holding 4 and Accelerator holding 3. Although from Touma's perspective it seemed as though Accelerator was struggling a little.

"Hey Accelerator, are you alright?"

"I'm Fine!" In truth while carrying heavy objects was no trouble at all for Accelerator since he could basically make them weightless the real issue, however, stemmed from the fact that he severely underestimated the distance this boy had walked to get here, they have been walking for 40 minutes straight with no end in sight.

"Oh we're here"

"Finally" As Accelerator to put the bags down Touma followed suit.

"Wait here for a second." Touma then started to run into his dorm building.

After a few minutes, Touma came back down holding a broken pack of Black coffee.

"What's with the coffee?" Accelerator asked in an accusatory tone. "I thought you said you were gonna buy me a new pack, don't think for even a second that you can-"

*Touma then tossed a can of coffee to Accelerator

Lucky for Touma Accelerator reacted in time and caught it before his auto reflection could blast it away.

"Break time come on." Touma then gestured to a nearby bench.

"Huh?"

Once both Accelerator and Touma were seated Touma opened one of the bottles of black coffee and proceed to drink.

Accelerator was hesitant at but after Touma started to drink his, he followed suit.

"So you never answered my question."

"And what was that?"

"What's it like being a Level 5."

Accelerator leaned back and thought for a moment. "Well imagine ever dumb ass in the world coming out to get to you."

Touma sighed. "Yeah, that's what I thought."

Accelerator then looked up at the dorm building and noticed on the seventh floor they were doing construction. "The hell happened there."

Touma then raised his hand. "Some jackass firebombed my dorm" Touma then began to casually take a sip of coffee.

"What!?" Accelerator would expect something like this to happen to him but not this guy. "Don't act so freakin casual about it."

Touma just shrugged. "Why? It's nothing out of the ordinary, just another punk trying to prove himself."

"..."

"Hey Accelerator have you heard anything about something called a Level Upper?"

Accelerator rolled his eyes. "Don't fucking remind me." To clarify ever since people started using Level Upper the amount of challengers Accelerator got Tripled.

"You know your not that bad a guy Accelerator."

"Huh? The fuck are you talking about."

"I mean your an asshole but your not a bad guy, think about it, you helped me out when you could've just walked away."

"You bribed me, remember dumb ass."

Touma laughed. "Ha, like this poor Kamijou can even afford to bribe someone like you, aren't level 5s supposed to be rich?"

"Just Shut up, how much longer are we gonna be here?"

"Until you recover I guess."

"What the hell are you talking about now,"

Touma then finished his coffee and threw his can in the recycling bin. "I mean you were looking like you were about to keel over, so I decided to make us take a break."

Accelerator shot Touma a glare.

In truth, Touma knew from Misaki, that high-level espers tended to be the most unathletic members among the community.

Touma's phone then started to ring.

Touma had a fifty-fifty guess on who was calling him, and he knew it had to be a level 5.

"Hello?"

"HEY IDIOT WE'RE STILL WAITING!"

"Yeah, Touma hurry up!"

Touma quickly hung up the phone.

"Looks like break times over, come on let's get going.

* * *

**Komoe-sensei's Apartment**

"This is the place?" If you would've told Accelerator that this building was due for demolition he would've believed you without a second thought.

"Yep home sweet, temporary home. Thanks again for helping me carry all this stuff."

Accelerator scoffed. "Whatever, just don't try to weasel your way out of paying me back got that."

"Don't worry this Kamijou always pays back his debts. By the way, do you wanna come in."

"What are you talking about?"

"Well I mean there's plenty of food so if you're not busy you can join us if you want."

Accelerator stopped for a moment and before he could answer his phone rang alerting him of another experiment.

Accelerator hesitantly picked up his phone and started to walk away.

"I'm busy...maybe another time."

"Wait a second." Touma then grabbed Accelerator's shoulder.

"What is it now!?" Accelerator snapped.

"I didn't get your contact info, remember, how am I gonna pay you back if I can't get a hold of you." then grabbed Accelerators out of his hands and put his number in it.

"Okay, now you do mine" Touma then passed Accelerator his phone, and he begrudgingly entered in his number.

"There you happy."

"Ecstatic really." Touma then shot him a sly grin.

"Smartass" And with that Accelerator was off to another one of his experiments although this time he felt…. Different.

Once Accelerator was out of sight Touma began relentlessly knocking on the door.

After a few seconds, the door swung open for Touma to see a very angry Index.

"Uhh, Index is everything alright?"

Index glared.

"Uhh, guys can you help me out here." When Touma looked up however he saw both his pint-sized teacher and his very electrical friend glare at him.

"3 hours."

Touma began to sweat bullets. The distance between Komoe-sensei's apartment and Josephs was only 40 minutes.

"Get him."

And with that Index bared her canine teeth.

"Such Misfortune"

* * *

Once Index was finished mauling Touma the group began unpacking all the food.

"So Index I know I asked you this before but how'd you think your Big day out went?

"It was amazing!"

"Great now let's eat I'm starving"

And with that everyone began to eat the miniature feast they had before them

* * *

Omake

**The true battle between the Strongest and the weakest**

After suffering a terrible burn Touma decided to use the true power of his counter

You know Accelerator I'm jealous of your haircut not many people can pull off the used mop."

It was super effective

It was at this point Accelerator awakened his new and improved reflection.

"Thanks, I couldn't pull off the whole fake look like you, Fake hair, fake girlfriend."

Both boys stared down one another

**20 minutes later**

"You know it's better to let people think you look like a dumbass than actually opening your mouth to prove it."

"Oh, where'd you get that one, was from your other friends!"

"Yeah, I met them at the same place you met your girlfriend!"

"FUCK YOU!

"Don't like my sarcasm huh? Well, I don't like your stupid."

"Stop trying to be smartass, you're just an ass!?

"Okay wait second! I think we've gone way off track here I can prove to you that I have a girlfriend."

"How's that?"

"Look at this" *Touma pulls out his phone and pulls up a picture of him and Misaki.*

Accelerator starts grinning while looking at the picture.

"Hehehe You know photoshops a beautiful thing, but next time go easy on the cliche anime girl eyes"

"FUCK YOU!"

* * *

**Uiharu's Enhanced Interrogation Methods**

After being picked up by Kuroko, Saten found herself locked in a dimly lit interrogation room with the lights flickering.

"Guys, why did you grab me, where am I?"

*The lights suddenly turned off making the room pitch black

"Guys! Uiharu!"

Suddenly the lights turned back on and Uiharu wearing a black domino mask appeared behind Saten.

"You called" Uiharu spoke in a low menacing voice scaring Saten out of her mind.

"AHHH! Geez, Uiharu you scared me."

*Uiharu slams her fist on the table

"You wanted me here I am." Uiharu then menacingly stared Saten.

"U-Uiharu what with the voice? And what's with that mask?

**Outside the Interrogation room**

"Konori-senpai are you sure about this?" Shirai asked while looking into the Interrogation room through the one-way mirror.

Konori nodded. "Uiharu isn't just Judgements best goalie, she's also one of it's best interrogators if anyone can make Miss Saten talk it's her."

"I'm not worried about that, I'm worried that.-"

"AHHH! I swear to god Uiharu that's all I know!" cried Saten

"SWEAR TO ME!"

"AHHHH!"

"That' what I was afraid of."

* * *

**What really happened at that convince store**

After a long hard day of destroying windup dolls, Accelerator finally makes it to the convenience store to pick his pack of Black Coffee. Once Accelerator makes it into the store he heads straight to the cashier he talked to earlier.

"Oi, I'm here for my coffee."

The unamused store clerk simply gave Accelerator a blank look. "Isle closest to the chips sir."

This confused Accelerator. "The hell, no dumbass I'm here the coffee that I reserved earlier today!"

"Sir you can't reserve a pack of coffee, this is a convenience store, not a restaurant."

"I know dumbass that why I bought it and told you to hold it for me until I got back."

"Sir I don't recall ever doing that."

"The fuck." (This asshole, I bet he just pocketed the cash!)

"Sir if you're not gonna buy anything I'll have to ask you to leave."

"I already bought something you greedy fuck! Where the fuck's my coffee!"

"Listen here you, the minimum wage doesn't' pay enough to deal with you. So unless your gonna buy anything, Get out!"

At first, there was a look of shock on Accelerator's face, but that soon died out and was quickly replaced with a look of pure anger as he walked out of the store.

"What foul-mouthed little boy" The store clerk then noticed a post-it at the bottom of the counter

'What's this'

It read '

Don't forget to give the moppy white-haired boy his Black Coffee.

"Huh? That's my handwriting but I don't remember ever writing this."

Before the store clerk could even think another word he heard something in the distance.

***BOOOOOOOM***

"AAAAHHHHHHH!" Suddenly a

cleaning robot came barreling through the front entrance of the store completely obliterating everything in its path.

The robot came 5cm from smacking the man in the face.

"FUCK YOU!"

**10 minutes later.**

The owner of the store comes back to see his store in ruin and runs inside to see his employee standing motionlessly.

"Oh my god, what happened who did this. And what's that smell."

The employee then collapsed into his bosses arms.

"Moppy white hair….."

"What?"

"He…...he had such a foul mouth." the employee then passed out.

"NOOOOO!"

* * *

Author's notes

If you're wondering what Misaki heard it was "She's with the Dorm manager and she's coming right towards you."

**Happy 15th Anniversary**!


	15. Chapter 15 AIM

**Hey, guys thank you for reading a certain Scientific Counter. Sorry for the delay but the longer the chapter is the longer it takes me to proofread it, however, I did just get a Beta-reader so it should be a little faster now, Anyways Thank you guys for the support and thank you for leaving a review it really helps me out get new ideas for the story. Anyways now for Q&A.**

**Anti-Mage 29-Thank you and nice name for Touma's Left hand, however, it does have a proper name, but if I reveal it now anyone who has ever read NT or OT for long enough would see where I'm going with this. And yeah would you believe someone like Touma would get a Girlfriend like Misaki.**

**Dragonrails- I agree the best way make friendships is to burn the hell out of the other. The other reason is that Accelerator's personality is so abrasive that this is normal for him. And I'm glad you got to get a back to back a chapter.**

**Fortitude501- Uiharu is the Procter that Academy City deserves but not the one it needs. Also, Index felt betrayed because up until now Touma never lied to her, so when he said he wasn't going to the bathhouse she felt hurt. Also, Touma never told any of them that he was dating Misaki because he didn't think it was important.**

**MarkGib- Thank you.**

**BlueJack22- Good luck with your chapter!**

**Rajarshi Sarkar- So you're in the same mindset as Komoe-sensei, Also I Sogiita should be a little higher."**

**Graeskog- Thank you I got the idea after going over some of the scenes and thought to myself, I am the Knight. And here is the newest chapter.**

**Robby-Terima Kasih- (Thank you)**

**Savior555- Okay**

**July 24 AIM**

As Touma awakens from his deep slumbers he suddenly realizes something was off. Namely, the fact that he actually managed to get a good night's sleep. After the celebration, Touma was stuck doing all the cleanup as his Teacher really didn't care if her place was dirty or not and Index while well-intentioned had a habit of managing of making things worse when she tried to help. For example, when she offered to take out the trash to the automatic trash compressor, she managed to somehow jam it even though the machine was capable of 2300 psi.

So once Touma was finally finished doing all the cleanup he got to go to sleep. But, where is everybody? Touma looked around the apartment and couldn't find a trace of anybody. Not even Index, if it wasn't for him thinking to check his phone he would've started panicking. But when he checked his phone he realized he had messages.

Message:'Hey, Took Index with me to go check on Saten' Reply: Okay

Message: 'Good Morning My Prince.' Reply: Morning.

After getting changed Touma decided to head outside and enjoy what little summer he had left. Today was his first real day off of summer, The supplementary classes he takes were split up so you had one day off per week for a 3-week period. Normally he would spend this day with Misaki or the rest of the Delta Force, unfortunately for him, Misaki told him she was going to go check on some research lab in District 2, and he wasn't on speaking terms with the rest of the Delta Force at least until his dorm gets repaired. For now, Touma decided he was gonna do what he does best and that was to take a walk.

* * *

**Part 1**

**Judgment Branch office 177**

Once Mikoto and Index reached the Judgement Office Mikoto stopped right in front of the door to mentally prepare herself to see Saten again. She really didn't know what she was going to say to her, but she knew she had to say something. Eventually, Mikoto decided it was better to just rip out the band-aid and be done with it.

***WHAM*** Mikoto Slams open the door.

"HELLO, How ya-" ***BONK***

Before Mikoto could finish her entrance Judgement's finest decided to pay her a visit first in the form of Uiharu falling directly onto her head causing her to collapse.

"Mikoto!" The silvery haired nun cried.

Kuroko then sighed "Onee-sama quit using your powers to break in here."

* * *

After getting mild first aid and thanking her luck for not ending up with a concussion, Mikoto asked to see Saten.

"So Saten's not here huh," Mikoto said.

"Yeah, after yesterday we had to move Saten-san and the rest of her classmates to the hospital ward." Kuroko calmly stated.

"Huh? Why did you send Ruiko to the hospital when I saw her yesterday she seemed fine?" Index asked.

Before Kuroko could answer Uiharu spoke up. "That's because a side effect of using Level Upper is that you go into a coma that you can never wake up from."

Index gasped at this. "I-Is Ruiko going to be okay?"

Misaka faltered for a second as even she was unsure if her friend was going to be okay but, in a blink of an eye, Uiharu answered.

"Of course she is! She has all of us doesn't she!" Uiharu declared while clenching her fist. "I know we can save her and everyone else who got affected by this."

The entire group then smiled at their friend's determination.

"I have to be going now I have an appointment with Kiyama-sensei," Uiharu said as she readies herself to head out.

"Why are you meeting up with her?" Mikoto asked.

"Yesterday when you called… Uiharu got really determined to find out exactly how Level Upper worked and refused to even leave the office until we made some sort of break in the case."

"It's Synthesia, That's how they got Level Upper to work like a Testament." Uiharu flat out said.

Suddenly Mikoto slapped herself at her humongous oversight. Of course, it had to be Synthesia, all 5 senses are required to force ability development.

Kuroko nodded. "We finally figured it out at around 3 in the morning. And by the time we did Kiyama-sensei had already gone to sleep and wasn't picking up her phone."

"I'll go with you" Mikoto offered.

"Thank you but, …. You didn't come here to help with the case Miss Misaka, you came here to see," Uiharu had to bite her lip to keep herself from crying. "Saten, so I think you should go see her before…."

Kuroko then placed a hand on her friend's shoulder. "Are you sure you're up for this?"

Uiharu then grabbed the hand that Kuroko had placed on her and squeezed. "I made a promise to Saten that if she went to sleep that I'd wake her up."

Kuroko let go and nodded as she saw her partner head out. But before she did she threw her a thermos filled with coffee. "Can't have you collapsing before we find a way to wake Saten up now, can we?"

And with that Uiharu set out to go meet Kiyama-sensei.

Right as Uiharu left Mikoto decided to head over to the hospital to go see her friend. "Well, I guess I'll see you later Kuro-" Mikoto was immediately cut off by a certain teleporter grabbing unto her and Index.

"Don't worry Onee-sama, I'll get you there before you know it."

"No, wait, Kuroko!"

And like that the trio was gone like the wind.

* * *

**A Certain Hospital**

While it can be said that Kuroko saved them a tremendous amount of time by skipping over all the traffic by teleporting them there, it can also be said that she caused Index to have a mild panic attack.

"AGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"Index it's alright," Mikoto said in an attempt to calm the young nun.

"Onee-sama is she okay!?"

"TELEPORTATION SPELLS HAVE 77% LIKELIHOOD OF ENDING IN DEATH!" She was still not used to being exposed to esper abilities. In her defense, Kuroko wasn't helping much by teleporting them in the middle of the sky, so she could have a better view of the hospital.

After finally managing calm Index down Kuroko learned a valuable lesson in telling people to close their eyes before she teleported them.

Once inside Mikoto was once again faced with an unavoidable obstacle. The door to Saten's hospital room.

"Onee-sama?"

"Mikoto?"

Mikoto raised her hand to stop them. If she was going to do this, she had to do this on her own.

Before her thoughts could be filled with any more doubts Mikoto grabbed the handle to Saten's door and pulled.

"Hey Saten"

* * *

**Part 2**

**Somewhere in District 7**

As Touma continued to walk through District 7 a thought came to his mind this was a perfect chance to pay back Accelerator. Touma didn't like to have any outstanding debts so now seemed like the best chance to pay him back. So he Touma pulled out his Cellphone and shot Accelerator a Text.

* * *

**A Certain Accelerator's Apartment**

Accelerator found himself lying on his bed just listening to music waiting for this day to be over. Today was one of the few days that Accelerator had off from his constant experiments. With nothing to do he just decided to enjoy some peace and quiet in his apartment. That was his plan until he got a text from somebody named Kami?

"Hey Accelerator what's up"

"Did you fucking put your contact info name as Kami!"

"Yeah, and I put yours as My Albino friend. Why?" Accelerator slapped his face after reading that.

"What the fuck do you want?"

"To pay off my debt my Albino friend, let's meet up"

As much as Accelerator hated to admit it, he really had nothing better to do and at least this way he would be able to kill some time.

"Fine."

"Great let's meet up at Julian's Restaurant"

* * *

**Julian's Restaurant**

Once Accelerator finally got to the restaurant he greeted by no other than the same idiot from before. He half expected to be walking into some sort of trap. At least that way it would make his day somewhat interesting. But alas this was not that and instead, he went into the booth where Touma was.

Before sitting down Accelerator looked over and scanned the table and found no coffee.

"Where the hell is my coffee?"

Touma instinctually looked the other way before answering him "Hehehe, Well you see funny story, I kinda lost it".

"What!? What do you mean you lost it!"

Touma then raised his hands defensively. "It wasn't on purpose I swear it's just on the way here from the store, I lost it."

Accelerator's eyes started to narrow. "How?"

Not wanting to make eye contact with Accelerator he still looked away. "While I was running away from a Judgment Officer"

"EEEHHH!...PFFT HAHAHA!"

"IT'S NOT FUNNY ASSHOLE! I COULD'VE GOTTEN ARRESTED FOR SOMETHING YOU DID!"

"HAHAHAHA! Wait a minute are saying you ran away from those stupid ass Judgement Officers."

"Yeah but it's not my fault."

* * *

**30 Minutes Earlier**

"FREEZE!"

"AHHH!" Touma quickly turned around and saw the same girl who had gotten him arrested days earlier. "Oh it's just you." he then lowered his hands and continued to walk away.

"I said, Don't move!" The girl then made some sort of pose while grabbing her armband.

Touma immediately became pale at the sight of this as he saw that it was a Judgement Armband. "Y-You gotta be kidding me right!?"

The girl narrowed her eyes. "We just got a report of a boy with spiky black hair punch through a wall while exiting a building, you seem to not only match the description, but you also match the MO."

Touma sighed. Of course, something like this would happen to him. "I should've just stayed in bed" he mumbled under his breath

"What was that?"

"Look I know what it looks like but, I swear it wasn't me," he said while raising his hands to surrender.

The girl simply stared at Touma for a moment it looked as though she was observing him to see if he was lying or not. After a while, she spoke. "You still have to come with me for questioning"

"But why? I didn't do anything wrong and besides you were dead wrong last time."

The girl once again narrowed her eyes. "I looked over that report myself, and wouldn't you know the part where you got involved went missing like it never happened in the first place."

"That's got nothing to do with me though I swear, besides do I look like the kind of guy who would be able to punch through a wall to you?"

"Esper abilities can allow people to do all sorts of things, so I learned not to judge a book by its cover, out of curiosity what's your level?"

"Well, you see." Touma wanted to explain to her that he was actually a Level 0, but he'd be lying. "I'm a Gemstone."

The girl's eyes widened in response. "Wow never seen one of you guys before, but that really doesn't change anything."

"Oh, come on can't you cut me some slack rabbit girl?" Touma really should've phrased that better.

"Who are you calling rabbit girl!" The young judgment officer snapped.

(uh oh)

The girl then proceeded to cover her mouth thinking he insulted her teeth. "Jeez, you really are the worst" She then proceeded to pull out a pair of handcuffs and approached Touma.

"No wait-" Touma then noticed a familiar scent. "Is that sesame oil?"

The girl then stopped in her tracks. "Y-Yeah actually it is how'd you know?"

"Well, you see I'm actually sort of a cook if you can call it that."

The girl's eyes then brighten up. "Really what's your specialty?"

"Well I haven't really picked one out yet, I'm sort of just testing out all of them, for now, to see which one I like the best."

The girl then nodded. "Same, truth be told I'm actually trying to learn pais cuisine" {a form of cooking that exclusively caters to children, mainly to help with development in the early years mainly 7-13}

"Really? If that's the case then I'd suggest switching over to olive oil instead."

"Really? I always thought that sesame oil made my dishes taste better. Whenever I tried to use olive oil my dishes always end up tasting too oily."

"Well that's probably because you're using too much olive oil, your supposed lightly drizzle the pan to use it for quick sauté or for baking. Also, if you're trying to learn more pais recipes I'd suggest reading up on Julia Child."

"I've heard of her, is she good?"

"Yeah, while her specialty is French cuisine she has a lot of helpful recipes and tips on how to best use olive oil in other dishes like ones that have to do with pais cuisine, I got mine at Book-on"

"Huh, Thanks that really helps, by the way, what's your name?"

"I'm Kamijou Touma, how about you?"

"Tobi Yumi, a pleasure to meet you" she then extended her arm for a handshake which Touma complied with.

***CLINK***

Touma then looked down and saw that she had handcuffed his right hand to hers.

"Did you really think you could smooth-talk your way out of this?" She asked with a sly smile on her face.

Touma resisted the urge to groan "Oh come on, what is it gonna take to prove to you that I didn't do this?"

Yumi thought about it and did find it strange that someone like him would do something so brazen, she figured the best way to see if he was telling the truth would be to test it out. "What's your ability?"

"Huh" Suddenly it clicked in Touma's head (Stupid! I could've just shown them my imagine breaker the last time and not get arrested. )

Touma then tugged on his right hand. "This, I can negate any esper ability my right-hand comes in contact with."

Yumi looked skeptical but she agreed to humor the boy.

She then proceeded to raise her left hand causing the air currents around it to swirl in place faster and faster until being slowly compressed in a sphere of pure air currents. "Last chance, if you're lying then this is gonna hurt a lot since I'm not fantastic at controlling the gale-force speeds of my **Volcanic Ball**"

With a look of determination on his face, he responded "I'm sure"

Yumi then proceeds to slowly lower her hand towards Touma's right hand. She was actually nervous, she didn't want to hurt Kamijou. Finally, once the Volcanic ball was centimeters away from Touma's hand she stopped.

"What's wrong?" he asked

"I- I can't" In truth Yumi never liked to use her powers in such a violent way, the only times she did, she did out of self-defense but this, it would be like spitting in the face of her sister's memory.

"I get," Touma understood immediately why she was so hesitant. "So let me do it" Touma then raised his right hand up, so he could touch the ball of air himself.

***Shatter***

Yumi flinched the moment Touma jerked his hand up and when she opened her eyes the Volcanic Ball was gone. "H-How?"

With a slight grin on his face, he answered: "I told you didn't I, I can negate anything whether it be a tactical rail gun or a ball of compressed air."

The girl looked revived "Whew thank goodness I thought I was gonna break your hand there for a second."

"Yeah sorry about that, I get how it can be a little hard to believe, but seeing is believing right."

"Yeah" Yumi then took out the keys to his handcuffs and proceed to unlock them. "Sorry about blaming you for Everything" She looked slightly embarrassed.

Touma waved her off. "No problem, besides if I were in your shoes I'd find the evidence behind myself pretty damning too."

Yumi then let out a small giggle "Yeah sorry to bother you, but I still have no idea who could've punched through the wall, do you think it was the same person who trashed the convenience store?"

"Nah I don't think he's the type to punch through walls. See ya."Touma then started to walk away until a thought arose (Did I just admit to knowing who trashed the convenience store)

"Yeah, see-" (Did he just admit to knowing who trashed the convenience store.)

For a brief second both their eyes met, and they both knew that they had just made a huge mistake.

Touma did not help the situation by starting to sprint away from the girl.

"STOP RIGHT THERE!"

Touma did not however stop and continued to sprint down the streets. For a brief second, he actually thought that he had lost her. Then he heard the...

***BOOM***

The sound of air booming could be heard throughout the streets as he turned around to see that same Rabbit Girl soaring through the air like some sort of hawk trying to take down its prey. Apparently, an application of Volcanic Ball is that it allows you to propel yourself across great distances at high speeds.

Great for her bad for him.

As Touma quietly accepted what fate had in store for him he stopped running and closed his eyes and allowed nature to take its course.

***CRASH!***

Touma opened his eyes expecting to see Yumi in front of him about to clock him in the face only to see that she didn't stick the landing and instead landed on a nearby bush cushioning her fall.

"Ow Ow Ow Owie. I need to practice my landing more" She whined while picking herself off of the bush.

Once she wiped off all the foliage from herself, she looked around and saw a pack of Black coffee left on the ground and no Kamijou insight.

"THIS ISN'T OVER KAMIJOU!"

"SUCH MISFORTUNE!"

* * *

**Current Time**

"HAHAHAHAH"

"I TOLD YOU TO STOP LAUGHING!"

Accelerator tried his best to regain his composure. "Okay so now what, your on that girls hit list or something?"

Touma Nodded. "Probably, be on the lookout for any rabbit girls"

"Hey, why didn't you rat me out?"

"What are you talking about?"

Accelerator leaned back on his chair. "You could've saved yourself a lot of grief if you just told her that it was me, instead of taking the blame."

"Yeah, but we're friends, beside you'd probably do the same for me"

Accelerator scoffed. "I'd sell you out to that chick for the pack of Coffee she took from you."

Ignoring Accelerator's blatant treasonous statements Touma continued the conversation.

"Hey, I wanted to ask you what the heck is your esper ability?"

The white-haired boy rolled his eyes. "Vector transformation."

"AHH that makes sense" Touma then nodded as though he understood completely about what he was talking about

Suspicion immediately grew on accelerators face "You have no idea what Vectors are, do you?"

"It's the thing with the arrows right?"

Accelerator started to twitch. "Yes dumbass my power is controlling fucking arrows."

"No need to be such a dick. But seriously I never really understood that part of physics class, I get that it has to do with direction and something else,"

"Magnitude. A Vector is something that has direction and magnitude".

Touma then rubbed the back of his head "Isn't that a bit too vague, I mean by that logic you could basically control anything you wanted."

"Yeah, that's why I'm the top dog in this city". He said condescendingly.

Touma responded by rolling his eyes

"Don't fucking roll your eyes at me" he roared

"Look it's not that I don't believe you it's just that you act like that's all you are" he pointed out.

"What the hell are you spouting out."

Touma then gestured towards Accelerator "I mean is that really all you are? Just the number one esper in Academy City."

Accelerator was about to rip Touma a new one until he stopped to realize that he was right and a thought popped into his head.

'_Who am I?'_

Seeing Accelerator stare blankly at him didn't sit right with Touma, so he took this opportunity to flick him in the head to get him to snap out of it

"Hey earth to number 1 I'm still here you know, you're freaking me out"

Reeling back from getting flicked in the head Accelerator quickly snapped at him "How the hell do you keep doing that!"

"Do what?" He questioned.

"Touching me, Normally my reflection would break anyone who even tried."

Touma's eyes narrowed "You didn't actually listen to my story did you?"

Accelerator stared at him dead in the eyes and with a straight face said "I listened enough to know you leveled up from being pushed around by middle school girls to be being pushed around by high school ones."

Touma groaned in annoyance. "My right hand it can negate anything it touches does"

"What?"

In almost a mocking tone Touma slowed down his speech "My. ... Hand…. Can….negate... anything…. It…... touches"

Accelerator took a deep breath knowing full well that if he didn't, he would smack this kid so hard that they would find his body all the way in Brazil.

"I mean what hell are you talking about? How does that even work?"

Touma shrugged and gave his response "No clue, never really bothered to look into and every time I do" Touma then remembered Index telling him that his right hand was the source of all his misfortune "Misfortune always reels its ugly head at me."

Accelerator not believing him choose the direct approach and went to touch his right hand.

***Shatter***

Nothing. From the moment he touched him he couldn't feel his reflection anymore it was like it just disappeared.

"Whoa there, I don't think Misaki would be happy seeing this."

Accelerator let go and went back to leaning in his seat "Still going with that bit, I see?"

"I told you I really do have a girlfriend she's just in another district…." Touma then took a moment to reflect at what he just said and realized even he wouldn't have believed him.

"Whatever. Like I was saying how the hell does that power even work."

"I keep telling you I don't know. Hell, I learned more about my left hand this week than I ever did about my right since I got to Academy city".

"Wait, your left hand?"

"Yeah I have two abilities"

Accelerator was about to call him out but quickly stopped himself realizing that this wasn't the first he was proven wrong. (Is he talking about Dual Skill)

"Show me"

"Sure." Before Touma could say another word his phone started ringing "Give me a second I gotta take this".

Touma then got up and walked far enough away so Accelerator couldn't hear him

"Mikoto what's up?"

* * *

**Part 3**

As Kuroko waited outside of the hospital room patiently waiting for Mikoto to exit Index decided to pace back and forth.

"That's not gonna make her finish any faster you know." Kuroko pointed out.

"I know it just-"

Suddenly the door to Saten's Room opened and out walked Mikoto

"Mikoto!"

"Onee-sama!"

"I'm all right, I guess" Mikoto sighed. "I don't know exactly why she did what she did, but I feel as though I at least have a better understanding of why it happened."

"Ahem" Before any of them could reflect on what happened anymore, they saw that they were being called over by a frog-faced Doctor.

"Ah! A real Gekota!" Mikoto squealed.

Index simply tilted head confused. "I thought they were supposed to be green?"

For once Kuroko would have to play the straight man of the group. "Guys Calm down, you do realize he's just a normal doctor right?" Worryingly enough neither of them looked convinced. She then noticed the doctor showing them his ID card which had a sticker of Gekota on it. "YOUR NOT HELPING!"

"Haha, sorry but you wouldn't imagine the amount of time I've been called that." she then proceeded to put away his ID card. "If you three would please follow me I have something I need to show you." He then gestured them to follow him.

Once they were nearing her office Kuroko began her usual line of questioning. "If you don't mind sir, why do want to see us?"

"You three are working on the Level Upper case aren't you?" he responded. " I have something that you might find helpful."

He then opened the door to his office and began typing away on his computer until a screen full of wavelengths appear.

"What's that?" Index questioned.

"What you're looking at Miss are the brainwave patterns of the Level Upper Victims" he explained. He then scrolled down to show them multiple wavelengths that looked nearly identical to each other. "Normally an individual's brain waves are unique but upon closer inspection, I've noticed each victim in the Level upper case has a similar brain wave pattern."

"What does that mean?" she asked.

"It could point to outside influence," He answered. "Did you know a person's brain waves change based on what that person is doing, so if you could force someone's brainwaves to change, you could essentially change there that person's behavior."

"Wait are you saying Level Upper changes people's brain waves and puts them into comas, what would be the point in that," Mikoto asked.

The doctor sighed. "Some of my work revolves around new types of security systems, One lock, in particular, uses a person's specific Brain waves to unlock them, So when I cross-referenced the Brain wave pattern to the one I had on file I found a match" He then scrolled lower on the screen to show the person in question. "It was Kiyama Harumi." the picture showed a woman with long wavy brown hair and bags under her eyes. Her face was one that both Mikoto and Kuroko recognized.

"WHAT!" Kuroko then ran out of the room to make a very important call.

"Wait let me get this straight, you're saying that she's using Level Upper to make some sort of Brain wave network"

The Doctor nodded. "Let me ask you this, you're an Electromaster right, If you could convert people's Brain waves into electrical impulses do you think you could create a Network for them?"

"Maybe But I'd have to keep the impulses as consistent as possible-" (Kiyama-sensei is using the coma's to keep people's brain waves regulated, so she could create her own Network)

Suddenly Kuroko rushed back into the room "ONEE-SAMA! I can't get a hold of Uiharu!"

* * *

**Part 4**

**Bridge**

Uiharu originally went to Kiyama-sensei's office in order to get more information on Synthesia in hopes of helping her friends, but ended up getting there before her and discovered that Kiyama-sensei was the one responsible for the Level Upper Incidents in the first place. Now Uiharu finds herself as her hostage while they race down the Freeway in a sports car to god knows where.

"Hey, kid I've been wondering what's the deal with these flowers? Are they part of your ability or something?"

"I'm under no obligation to tell you that" Uiharu retorted graciously. "Why don't you tell me what Level Upper is and why you did this in the first place."

Kiyama rolled her eyes "One question after another isn't it." She then glanced over at her and saw her glaring something fierce at her. "Alright, Level upper links people's brain waves to make high-level operations."

"Links them?"

"Essentially it places the user's brainwaves on flux, like someone who would change the frequency on the radio until it hits just the right frequency."

"Then why are they in Comas!"

Kiyama reeled back from the flower girl's yelling. "Can you cool with the yelling you're gonna make me crash."

"Not until you answer me!" she demanded.

"Alright, The frequency that's needed in order for the Network to stay active is the same as a 1 on the Glasgow Coma Scale. Hence, why they are in a coma." She stated matter of factly.

"Why would you do something like this."

"..."

"Because of you my best friend is about to fall into a coma, and I don't know if I could wake her up!"

Hearing this reminded Kiyama as to why and who, she did this for in the first place.

"Because they rejected the simulation I wanted to run on Tree Diagram, so this was the alternative."

"So you decided to use it on espers?"

Kiyama's eyes suddenly turned cold as she spoke her next words. "Yes, I thought 10,000 or so would be enough."

Uiharu froze at this statement. Not just because of how ludicrous it was but at how she said it. It was almost like she didn't even care about those who were affected. She then proceeded to glare menacingly at her contemplating if it would be worth it to just tug on the steering wheel right now.

"Don't look at me like that, I'm not a monster I planned on releasing everyone once I got a chance to use Tree diagram."

Uiharu didn't look the slightest bit convinced but, was slowly inching closer to her until Kiyama pulled something out of her pocket.

She then placed a small USB drive in Uiharu's hand."Here, this is the antidote to uninstall Level Upper are you happy now".

"How can I trust you! You're probably just placating me, so I won't try anything!"

Kiyama chuckled."Ha. You got me there, I guess you'll just have to trust me."

Uiharu was about to continue her tirade until she realized something. "What were you gonna do about all the people who passed out indoors or in the bath. If we didn't find them all they all could've died."

Suddenly the car began to swerve making Uiharu motion sick.

Meekly Kiyama-sensei muttered to herself "Crap... I gotta call the board and tell them to check all the Dorms."

"IT NEVER EVEN OCCURRED TO YOU!"

Suddenly the In-Dash navigation system screen started to change and beep.

"Hmm, it seems they're onto me."

"What are you talking about?"

"I set a program to alert me if anyone looked at my work without my authorization. All information about Level Upper just got deleted. The only thing that can wake up your friends now is in your hand. You'd better take care of it kid."

Suddenly the weight in Uiharu's hand increased as she realized, she held the fate of over ten thousand people in the palm of her hand.

* * *

**A Certain Hospital**

"Onee-sama you can't just go!"

"Do expect me to just stand by!"

Kuroko then stormed towards Mikoto. "Then I'm going to I'm Judgem- ARGH" Suddenly Kuroko felt Index pat her on the back which caused her immense pain.

"You can barely move Kuroko there's no way I'm letting you go out there."

"Y-You noticed?" Kuroko said while massaging her aching muscles.

"Of course I did, You're my Kohai after all" Then while holding her shoulder she said. "Now it's time you start relying on your Onee-sama"

Blushing Kuroko sprang on Mikoto "ONEE-SAMA!"

"NOT LIKE THAT!"

Index watching the whole thing unfold thought that the two of them had a beautiful friendship. Even while watching Mikoto wrestle Kuroko off of her.

"By the way Kuroko I'm gonna need you to watch Index for me?"

"Huh? Shouldn't Index just go home?" she asked.

"NO!, Under no circumstance are you to let Index leave your sight, can you promise me that."

Kuroko didn't understand why she was so worried but complied anyway. "You got it Onee-sama," She then turned to Index. "You got nothing to fear your with Onee-sama's right-hand gal."

Index smiled then walked over to Mikoto and whispered. "I think you should call Touma, he could be able to help."

Mikoto nodded. "Remember Index stay by Kuroko's side."

"Got it"

"Go get her Onee-sama!" Kuroko then tossed Mikoto an earpiece she had on her in case of emergencies, so they could keep in contact.

And with that Mikoto ran out of the hospital to last known location of Kiyama-sensei the Freeway but not without making a call to certain Gemstone.

"Mikoto what's up?"

"Listen I don't have much time, Uiharu got Kidnapped by some crazy scientist, I think she's driving on the freeway right now if you see her, go help her!"

"... Got it".

"She's driving a sports car."

She could hear Touma running on the phone.

"Wait where's Index!?"

"Don't worry she's with Kuroko, she's safe if anyone can play keep-away with those guys, it's her."

"Okay, I'll call you if I find anything."

"Thanks!"

* * *

**Part 5**

**Bridge**

As Kiyama continued to race down the freeway in her sports car she met an unfortunate roadblock in the form of Anti Skill officers and stopped.

"Anti Skill they only move this fast when the orders come from up high though, who could've-"

"KIYAMA HARUMI YOU HAVE BEEN CHARGED WITH SUSPICION OF DISTRIBUTING LEVEL UPPER SURRENDER AT ONCE!"

"What now? Your back's up against the wall and I doubt you could take on Anti Skill, your best bet would be just to surrender" Uiharu advised.

Kiyama grimaced for a second at realizing what had to be done if she was going to save them.

She proceeded to exit her car while putting her hands behind her back.

Upon seeing this, Anti Skill Agents scanned her surroundings and saw that both the hostage was secure, and she had no visible weapons on her. "GET HER!"

Kiyama closed her eyes remembering the faces of her students and opened them once again to show that her sclera had turned red.

* * *

***KA-BOOM***

Right below the Bridge Mikoto exits out of a cab while calling Kuroko for an update for what just happened.

"Kuroko what's going on!"

"I'm getting mixed reports! But apparently, Kiyama-sensei does have an ability and is currently engaging Anti Skill!"

"What! Since when did she become an esper!?

"That's the thing, the system shows that she never had power, and it's not just that apparently, she has more than one.

"What! That's im-" Mikoto then remembered she knew someone who had two different abilities. "Never mind, but how is she doing it!"

"I don't know, but if I to guess, it might have something to do with her being connecting to the Network.

Using the maintenance stairs on the side of the building Mikoto climbed it to find the carnage of what happens when people choose to battle a high-level esper.

Academy City's finest, Anti Skill were handily defeated if you could even call this a fight, Security bots, and officers littered the ground itself, the entire area where the fight had taken place was covered in a light smoke as if something were burning not so long ago. By some miracle, it seems no one died although Mikoto couldn't know that for sure.

Scanning the area Mikoto looked to see if the culprit was still around but stopped when she noticed Uiharu unconscious in the passenger seat f a blue sports car.

"Uiharu!" she yelled as she ran towards the car to check if she was alright.

"Don't worry, she's fine although she's gonna have one hell of a migraine when she wakes up."

Mikoto spun around to see none other than Kiyama-sensei standing no more than a few meters away from her with her back towards her staring off into the distance.

"Misaka Mikoto, one of only 7 Level 5s in all of Academy City, I currently don't have any Level 5s on file although, I don't think you've ever fought someone like me." Kiyama-sensei then slowly turned towards Mikoto showing her off her eye's red sclera, "I'm 10,000 minds in one, do you honestly think you stand a chance?" she mused.

"Of course!" Mikoto then launched an electric spear at Kiyama-sensei, intending to gauge how strong she really was.

In response to this, she used one of her various abilities to raise the pavement in front of her blocking it before it could hit her. Once she did that she raised her right hand towards her and small sparks started to appear as suddenly out of nowhere the entire area was covered in fire.

It was lucky for Mikoto that they were fighting on the bridge, as there was plenty of metal she could use to make a shield.

"Holy crap. You really do have powers" Mikoto said as she backed up a few meters away from Kiyama-sensei. "Not only that but, it seems as though you achieved Dual Skill. {theoretical esper phenomenon where an esper can have two separate powers.}

Kiyama-sensei simply narrowed her eyes. "Since I obtained my powers through different means, and as the concept of Dual Skill is still a scientific impossibility, I would prefer you call Multi-Skill." She then lowered her right hand vertically firing off a powerful air slash, cutting through the pavement itself as it made its way towards Mikoto.

Mikoto then used her magnetism movement to pull her body away from the attack and moved to the other side of the Bridge "I don't really care what you decide to call your little murder project, It doesn't change what I have to do!" Now being in Kiyama-sensei's blind spot Mikoto fires off another Lightning spear at her.

Right as the attack was about to make an impact it was stopped by some invisible force.

"What's the matter, you knew that I had multiple abilities so combining them shouldn't be all that surprising." Kiyama-sensei created a shock wave that collapsed the part of the bridge that they were fighting on causing both her and Mikoto to fall. As Rubble came plummeting down to the ground Kiyama-sensei simply used one of her multiple abilities float down safely, while Mikoto used the magnetic properties of her powers to cling onto one of the bridge's columns.

(Damn, it's hard enough fighting someone when you don't know what their power is, but having a power that is literally a Deus ex Machina is flat out Cheating!)

"Is this truly all that a level 5 can do?" Kiyama-sensei mocked.

Irked by this, Mikoto responded by using her electromagnetism to rip off apart of the support collum and launched it at her.

Kiyama-Sensei immediately countered this by creating an energy sword and dicing the projectile to bits before cutting the support collum holding Mikoto, causing her to jump off.

"Are you quite done yet?" Kiyama-Sensei asked. "I only want to complete my research once that done I'll simply release everyone. No one will get hurt."

"Are you kidding me!? No one will get hurt, what about all the people you dragged down with you because of your research! There's no way in hell I'm letting you get away with this!"

Kiyama-Sensei sighed as she rubbed her head. "Sheesh, you might be a Level 5 but you're still a naive little kid, do you even how the real world works?"

"I know enough to know that there are people like you who exploit children just because the ends justify the means. You're the type of monster I hate, you use people's insecurities just to make it so that you can further the advancement of science, You're a Monster!"

Suddenly something inside Kiyama-sensei's head snapped when she heard this.

_Monster!? **MONSTER!?**_

With a cold expression, Kiyama-sensei levitated a garbage can and launched it into the air causing the Aluminum cans inside to spread across the battlefield.

"I'm…... Just doing things** the Academy city way**."

Mikoto instantly recognized what Kiyama-sensei was planning, she had the power of the Graviton Bomber at her disposal and just spread out the tinder that if lit would spell her demise. In less than a second Mikoto reacted by blasting the surrounding area with a bombardment of electrical currents destroying all the aluminum cans.

'_I see. I can't just attack her directly' _Kiyama-sensei then pulled out an Aluminum can from her lab coat pocket._ 'However, I have other alternatives.' _She then teleported the aluminum can directly behind Mikoto.

***BOOOOOOOM!***

The explosion immediately enveloped everyone unfortunate enough to be with its blast zone covering the entire area in an enormous cloud of smoke and debris.

"I guess you Level 5s aren't immortal after all huh?" Kiyama-sensei then began walking away from the cloud of smoke but stopped when she felt someone grab her from behind.

"Gotcha~"

"WHA!? That's impossible that was a direct hit in your blind spot!"

"Hehe, sorry to disappoint but I don't have any blind spots since my body is constantly emitting electromagnetic waves, I can pick up any movement made against me almost instantly thanks to those reflected waves." Mikoto then smirked. "Although if I were you I'd be more worried about point-blank electric shock coming your way."

The earth began to tremble as Kiyama-sensei manipulated it in a last-ditch effort to stop Mikoto. Unfortunately for her, nothing could save her from the voltage that was to come.

***ZAAAP***

* * *

_**?****?****?**_

"Sensei!"

_What is this?_

"But sir I'd rather continue my research than have to play teacher for these kids."

Suddenly an old man with a birthmark on his head wearing a lab coat was in front of her. "Now, Now I'm not saying that, Do you see that, those are called child errors, their children who, for one reason or another were abandoned and are now being raised by Academy City, they will be the focus of this experiment, what better way to is there to **monitor subjects effectively and efficiently** than to take the place of their teacher. "

_Who are those kids?_

"I suppose you have a point."

_Where am I?_

"Good morning my name is Kiyama Harumi I'll be your new teacher, pleased to meet you."

"Pleased to meet you Kiyama-sensei!" The class full of children exclaimed.

Suddenly memories of children being children played before her eyes. Whether it be them playing pranks on her or just generally insulting her social life, nothing out of the ordinary for children. But for some reason, she had a thought in her head "I hate children, they're noisy, they have no manners and they're rude."

But then she found herself with a certain little girl.

"Kiyama-sensei do you think that I could be a high-level esper too?"

_Who is that?_

"Hard to say it's too early to say for sure Edasaki-san it really depends on how you're born and how much effort you put into it, Is that what you want? To be a high-Level esper?"

"That's part of the reason, it's just we're being raised by Academy city, and I just want to be useful is all."

At that moment she could feel her heart begin to open up once again.

Suddenly more pleasant memories of her with the children started to play, she could feel herself starting to….bond?... No…. This is just for the experiment….but...what if I really do….

Before anything else could be played she found herself inside a research facility.

"Today's finally the day for the experiment, are you scared Edasaki-san?

The little girl shook her head. "Not one bit! It's your experiment after all. **And I believe in you sensei.**"

***BLEEEEER***

Red lights and loud blaring alarms covered the research facility as….OH GOD.

A scientist scrambling for the controls starts yelling at the others " They're going into hypovolemic shock, we gotta get them to a hospital quickly!"

"Now, Now let's not be too hasty here." She turned, and she could see that same old man smiling almost as though he was pleased by what happened. "When it comes to the advancement of science no price is too high." She then felt his hand on her shoulder. "Wouldn't you agree, Kiyama-Kun."

She could feel her heart begin to shatter as she saw her student laying there in a pile of their own blood.

Once the old man left the room she collapsed onto her knees as scientists began carting away her precious students.

"**I believe in you sensei"**

* * *

"W-What the hell was that" Mikoto stuttered being taken aback at what she just saw.

Slowly picking herself up Kiyama-sensei responded. "You saw didn't you?"

"W-Why would you do something like that?"

"The experiment...they...they just used those kids as lab rats, stealing away their childhoods."

Mikoto just stood there in shock "H-How could they...do something like."

Now up Kiyama-sensei began to stagger. "Academy City is a cruel place…... 23 times."

"What?"

She continued to slowly limp her way towards Mikoto "That's the number of times I requested to use Tree Diagram to save them…. If I could just use it once, I could run simulations to find a cure for them. If Academy City had just agreed, I could've set them free breaking them out of their cruel fate, they could be out playing as kids should be, but instead, they've been lying comatose for years!"

"But you're doing the exact same thing that they-"

"DON'T YOU DARE COMPARE ME TO THOSE MONSTERS! I'LL DO WHATEVER IT TAKES TO SAVE THOSE KIDS! I DON'T CARE IF I END UP HAVING ALL OF ACADEMY CITY COME AFTER ME!" Suddenly she felt a sharp pain emanating from within her brain and started convulsing.

"Are you okay!?"

"ARRRGGG! THE NETWORK IT'S RAMPAGING!" she then collapsed onto the ground and as soon as she did a light that looked as though it was liquid started to leak out from the back of her head.

The mysterious light started to spiral upwards beginning to take form. In the end, it looked as though it was a giant fetus with a halo above its head, tentacles made of pure green light sprung from its back. When it finally opened its eyes it revealed that they were red just like Kiyama-sensei's had been. Before Mikoto could say a word it began to cry in pain.

* * *

**On a rooftop **

As Sogiita stood over a rooftop overlooking all of Academy city he scanned the area looking for one person, in particular, Kamijou Touma

Ever since he met the number 5 and heard about him he couldn't wait to test his Guts against his. But as usual, he had no luck in finding Kamijou anywhere. Normally he would be able to sense somebody he wanted to find by focusing his Guts on that person. But this time was different it was almost like he wasn't there at all.

"Oh come on Kamijou give me something. Stop hiding your Guts from the world and show your-"

***Boom***

In the distance, Sogiita could see an explosion appear in the middle of the highway. He could vaguely see Anti Skill vans surrounding what looks like a sports car with electricity blasting every which way.

"Duty calls" with a smirk he leaped off of the building, a giant colorful explosion appeared behind him as he soared through the sky towards the commotion.

* * *

Back on top of the Bridge Uiharu finally woke up, with a splitting headache she let herself out of the car and noticed that she didn't have handcuffs on anymore. Once outside of the car she noticed the widespread destruction that covered the bridge. She only hoped that no one had died during all of this fighting, but then the sound of a high pitch screaming caught her attention. As she rushed towards the noise she finally saw it. A giant fetus made up of pure energy. The wait was that Misaka and Kiyama-sensei? Before Uiharu could do anything else she saw the creature float away following the bridge down completely ignoring Misaka as she chased it. Uiharu then climbed down the maintenance ladder that was somehow affected by all the fighting to go check on Kiyama-sensei.

As Kiyama-sensei picked herself off the ground it was clear to Uiharu that she was hysterical."Hehehe HAHAHA, I guess that's it huh? Never thought something that would happen, hahaha if I only showed that off in a conference I would've won an award for sure hahaha" Taking a deep breath she then reached behind her back and pulled out a gun and pointed it at her temple. "I guess this is it, If I had any regrets then it would be that I failed those kids," Taking her last breath she closed her eyes. "I'm sorry students, I failed you"

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOUR DOING!?"

"Huh!?" Kiyama-sensei then found herself full-bodied tackled by Uiharu, causing the gun to fall out of her hands.

"DON'T YOU EVEN THINK OF," Uiharu then noticed that Kiyama-sensei wasn't breathing as she had all of her weight on her gut. "Ah, my bad." Uiharu then got off of her and helped her back on her feet.

"What your problem kid?"

"My problem!? I'm not gonna let you just kill yourself I'm a member of Judgement and decent human being." She then glared at her warning her that if she ever tried something like that again, then she would make it her mission to make sure she'd survive.

"TCH, Alright fine I won't do it again."

"Good, now can you explain to what the heck that thing is?"

Kiyama-Sensei sighed. "That thing is called an AIM BURST, it's a byproduct of the network I made from the 10,000 people currently inside. To put it simply it's a congregation of everyone's AIM fields into one being, It's the same concept as the Imaginary District."

"I thought that was only a rumor."

"Apparently not, hard to believe isn't it that something like that has a will of its own, or maybe it's just all those student's collective emotions rolled into one imperfect being, that would explain why it's such an emotional wreck."

"So what do we have to do in order to stop it?" Uiharu asked.

"Huh? I thought you said that you couldn't trust a word I said, kid?"

Uiharu then presented her hands. "You uncuffed me after I passed out. You didn't have to and it would've been to your advantage if you just kept me handcuffed and locked in that car, instead you came back. Besides, I don't think those kids you mentioned earlier would be too happy if they found out that their teacher was a liar ".

"You really know how to break a person down don't you kid. Alright, I'll tell you, do you remember that USB drive I gave you earlier well that's the first thing needed in order to stop the AIM BURST."

"Okay"

"First you're going to have to use the frequency on that drive and release everyone currently affected by Level upper then you're going to need to destroy the Nucleus that should destroy it completely."

"Wait what happens if we destroy the nucleus before we release everyone affected by Level Upper?"

"If you do that then everyone who is currently affected by Level Upper will suddenly become brain-dead from the sudden detachment from the network."

"WHAT!?"

"If I thought that something like this was even a possibility then I never would've done it. That's why I was going to-." Kiyama-sensei then stopped talking once she felt someone grab her hand.

"Come on we gotta get going and warn the others."

Kiyama-sensei was shocked as to why would she still try to help her, doesn't she realize that because of her 10,000 people could potentially die!. "Why?"

Uiharu then smiled at her "Because, you still have to make up for everything you've done I'm not going to let you just weasel your way out of something like this, besides when this is all over I want you to tell me more about your students, so I can help them too."

"You...kids." Kiyama-sensei then found herself running alongside her in order to help fix her mistakes.

* * *

As the AIM BURST continued to make its way down the bridge more Anti Skill operatives came with the mission to destroy it. Unfortunately for them, they were fighting something the like of which they have never seen before.

"FIRE" A hailstorm of bullets came washing over the AIM BURST, but as quickly as they tore through its flesh it regenerated the wounds and became bigger in the process.

"SOME GET THE GRENADE LAUNCHER."

***BOOOOOM***

The entire AIM BURST was covered in the explosion causing the Anti Skill officers to relax a little thinking that they could handle this.

"RAAAGHHHH!"

Suddenly a shock wave coming from the cloud of smoke sent all but one Anti Skill officer flying away.

"G-G-Guys!?" The lone female Anti Skill officer was alone as The AIM BURST slowly emerged from the cloud of smoking looking twice as big as it originally was.

Her legs couldn't stop shaking as the giant monster loomed over her. "D-D-Don't come any closer!" She then fired off her machine gun at the monster in panic.

"T-This is gotta be a Nightmare right!? There no way something like this could be real?" The monster then extended one of its fleshy tentacles towards her, once it got closer an eye manifested itself on the point of the tentacle along with small fleshy stubs for hands, now within striking distance of her the small hands felt the officers face.

"**SUPER AMAZING PUNCH!"**

A wave of pure force suddenly launched the tentacle away along with the entire AIM BURST several dozen meters away.

"Huh, that's one freaky monster."

"Who are you?"

The spiky-haired boy then turned around with a smile "I'm Sogiita Gunha and I'm here to kick that thing's ass." The boy then rocketed himself towards the beast once again smacking it square in the face. "**SUPER PUNCH**!"

The Anti Skill officer had no idea what just happened, but she was glad it did. She then heard a voice behind her and saw that it came from what looks to be a middle school girl wearing a beat-up Tokiwadai uniform.

"Hey lady, get outta here it's not safe!"

"Uh, shouldn't I be the one telling you that?" She asked.

"Ugh," The girl then launched a volley of electrical spears at a nearby car utterly annihilated it demonstrating her powers in the process. "Convinced?"

"Y-Yeah" she seemed a little intimidated by her demonstration.

"Look I have no idea who the hell that guy is but, use this chance to regroup and-"

"I can't! Do you see that building over there." She pointed to a far off facility in the background. "That's an experimental nuclear reactor if that thing makes its way there this entire area is going to known as the new Chernobyl"

"YOU'VE GOTTA BE KIDDING ME!?"

The Girl then launched herself using her electricity as a base towards the AIM BURST in hopes to stop the moron who was currently beating the thing to a pulp towards the very deadly Nuclear Reactor!

"**SUPER AMAZING ULTRA**-"

***ZAAAP***

"Huh?" The electrical attack didn't so much as hurt Sogiita as it did surprise him, he then turned around and saw a very pissed off Tokiwadai student coming towards him.

"Uhh, why'd you just do that?"

"Hey, you see that building over there!"

Sogiita then turned to see the building in question and nonchalantly answered. "Yeah"

"That's a Nuclear Reactor cool it with widespread attacks or your gonna cause a Meltdown!"

He responded by clenching his fist. "Don't worry I have full control over my GUTS!"

"WHAT!?"

"RAGGHHHHHHHH!"

The AIM BURST then started shooting of an assortment of energy blasts at the two with Sogiita simply swatting down the energy with a simple punch and Mikoto Blocking it with an Electromagnetic shield.

"You got some real GUTS! How about we team up and take this thing down huh?"

"Sure!"

"GREAT! SUPER DUPER PUNCH!" Sogiita leaped from the ground directly above the AIM BURST head nearly instantly and fired off a punch concentrating his GUTS in order to contain the shock waves in that specific area maximizing the damage output while minimizing damage caused to the area surrounding it. The impact forced the beast to the ground pinning it in place.

"Not bad, but let me show you how it's really done!" Mikoto then charged up electricity with both of her hands and used it to summon all the iron sand in the area and created a miniature twister made up of iron sand. She then used this death cyclone to cut the AIM BURST to ribbons not giving it a chance to escape or regenerate.

"THAT'S SO AWESOME!"

Before accepting the compliment Mikoto saw a red flare shoot up in the sky, it was coming from the part of the bridge she was originally at. She then felt her phone ring, normally she would ignore this but something told her that it was important.

"Hello!?"

"MISAKA-SAN PLEASE DON'T DESTROY THE AIM BURST YET!"

"Uiharu!? What are you talking about we're so close to-"

"IF YOU DESTROY BEFORE THE PEOPLE ARE FREE FROM LEVEL UPPER THAN EVERYONE WHO'S CURRENTLY IN A COMA WILL DIE!"

"WHAT!?"

"Please, Misaka-san just give us a little more time we're almost at the Anti Skill van from there I should be able to release everyone from their comas."

"Alright, but hurry!"

"Remember don't hit the Nucleus if you do then…"

"I get it, don't hit the Nucleus."

Mikoto then sighed as she released the AIM Burst. The Creature then grew to an enormous size towering over both of them.

"Uhh, why'd you stop? Did you run out of Guts or something?"

"Change of plans we can't destroy that thing yet."

"What!?"

"If we destroy it then 10,000 students across Academy City will die."

"Damn I knew this thing had some Rotten Guts, but that's just messed up!"

"Tell me about it."

* * *

As Uiharu and Kiyama-sensei ran on the bridge in order to make it to the remaining Anti Skill officer Kiyama-sensei found herself slowing down.

"Hurry Kiyama-sensei we have to get this to the Van a quickly as possible!"

"I know!" Kiyama-Sensei then turns to see the behemoth of a monster that she had created. It was enormous easily being more than 17 meters in height.

"COME ON!"

"Okay, jeez I never really was all that good at running." Kiyama-sensei bellowed.

"Same, Judgement training was my greatest foe!" Uiharu responded.

Once the remaining Anti Skill agents were insight the duo slowed down in order to catch their breath neither one of them could honestly run much longer without passing out.

"Do you know who that boy is?" Kiyama inquired.

"No idea, but I think he's on our side he's helping Misaka-san after all."

"I can't help but think that I've seen him somewhere before."

"Worry about that later!"

Kiyama-Sensei then had a feeling that something was coming straight for them. She then turned her head and saw a giant blast of pure energy come barreling towards them.

"WATCH OUT!" Kiyama-sensei then tackled Uiharu safely to the ground using her body to cover hers in case any of any debris.

"Are you okay" Kiyama-sensei then checked Uiharu's vitals and found that she was alright only unconscious.

"Thank god." She then noticed her hands and saw that the USB drive that she had been carrying had been destroyed.

Kiyama-sensei then carried Uiharu the rest of the way there leaving her in one of the Anti Skill Vans that had been abandoned. "Sorry kid, I couldn't even fix my own mess, thank you...for believing in me though." Knowing that she wouldn't be able to help her once she woke up, She then shut the door and proceeded to climb down the stairs of the end of the bridge and walked towards the edge of the battlefield.

At this moment she had given up on everything, being redeemed, saving her students….she just wanted to escape this cruel reality. She walked into the battlefield and immediately fell to her knees just waiting for a stray energy shot to hit her and end it all.

When she looked up she saw that very shot come barreling towards her, she closed her eyes and accepted that this was the end.

.

.

.

.

.

***SHATTER***

"HEY WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!?"

Even though there was no way for him to know that she was there. Even though there was no reason for him to help her. Somehow this misfortunate boy found himself saving this woman from the cruel illusion of hopelessness she had placed on herself and gave her **hope**.

"H-How did you do that?" She muttered.

The boy simply sighed. "At this point, I think I should just make a card" he muttered to himself before answering her. "My right hand can negate anything supernatural, and by the way….WHAT THE HELL IS THAT!" He said while pointing at the giant monster.

She couldn't believe it. By some miracle, she had been given another chance to make things right. If what he was saying was then he can free everyone who she'd damned.

"Listen to me, if you can touch the AIM BURST Nucleus you can save everyone and stop that..." (What am I doing, Do I really have any right to let yet another person carry my sins for me, how any more lives am I gonna take….)

"Okay."

She was in utter shock. There was no reason to believe her, she could've just been a madwoman spouting out nonsense, he didn't know who she was or what she'd done… "Why?"

The boy simply his right hand on her shoulder and smiled. "Don't worry teach, leave everything to me, Let me show you what the most talentless person in all of Academy City can do." He then ran off towards that monster without hesitation.

She then found herself with tears streaming down her face as she had finally allowed herself to cry. "Thank you….THANK YOU!"

* * *

"Huff...huff. You still good there?" Mikoto asked.

"Totally, My GUTS have never been pushed so far!" he exclaimed as he was dodging the AIM Burst attacks. Dust covered the area after each swing making it harder to actually dodge its attacks.

"Good, because there's no way in hell I'm gonna let my friend down."

* * *

**Saten's Hospital Room **

**Hours Earlier**

"Hey, Saten…."

"Are you?"

Mikoto walked over to her friend and saw her there lying unconscious. She felt powerless. But before she could dwell on this feeling for too long she noticed an envelope on the counter next to her hospital bed addressed to her and opened it.

Dear Misaka

_Uiharu told me that you wanted to talk to me but I wasn't sure if I'd be awake by the time you got here, so that's I wrote this. First I like to tell you I'm sorry. I'm so sorry it's just that I thought there was something wrong with me. I thought that I was defective for not having powers I really thought that, and yet I was too chicken to actually do it by myself, so I ended dragging some of my classmates with me. there were so many times I wanted to tell you guys but every time I was close I just found some excuse not to. Now I see that I couldn't have been more wrong I know even without a power I'm still me and I still have you guys Uiharu, Shirai. Funny isn't it, you never know what you truly have until you lost it huh. I want to thank you for everything Misaka. Thank you for telling me, thank you for getting my friends help after I got them in this mess and thank you for being my friend. I hope once this is all over we can back to way things used to be._

Sincerely,

**Ruiko Saten**

* * *

"Hey who's that?" Asked Sogiita as he watched some random guy appear on the battlefield.

Mikoto turned around and to her surprise there he was. Kamijou Touma

"What the hell are you doing here!"

"The lady in the lab coat over there said that if I touch the nucleus with my right hand than it should save everyone."

(Is he talking about Kiyama-sensei?)

"Look that doesn't matter Uiharu has a plan and once she frees everyone from the coma then we can destroy that thing"

"I'm with the electric chick, I can respect your Guts for coming all the way here but I don't think you can handle this. Just get to safety will ya."

Touma currently being in the presence of two people who were monumentally stronger than him, and a giant monster that could easily kill him with no effort stood firm in his decision. "No"

"Idiot! Just get outta here will you!" Mikoto screamed as she couldn't watch another one of her friends be in danger.

"Come on man-"

***Blast***

Before either of the Level 5s could react another blast of pure energy came barreling towards Touma.

***Shatter***

(Did This guy just erase the energy? Who is this guy?)

"Listen I know that I might be weaker than both of you, but the faster we take this thing out the less likely there is that there are gonna be any casualties. Besides, I think I can make up for what I'm lacking with some Guts." Touma said while looking at Sogiita

"You're a funny guy man. What'd need me to do?"

"Are you serious there's no way-" Mikoto protested

"We have to figure out where the nucleus is first" Touma explained

(Are they ignoring me!)

Sogiita eyes glow a brilliant white light for a few seconds before turning back to normal.

"Right there!" He then pointed at the center of the AIM BURST's chest.

"How'd you do that?"

"I focused my Guts to my eyes and could see where the source of that things' energy was coming from" Sogiita clarified

Both Mikoto and Touma had the same thought.

(Hacks!)

"Okay next is how I'm gonna-"

Sogiita then stomped his right foot on the ground shaking the very earth and causing cracks to form all around him before emitting a powerful red yellow-colored aura around himself.

"You're up!" He then grabbed the misfortunate boy by his collar.

"Wait you gotta be kidding me right?!"

Sogiita then threw the misfortunate boy full force towards the AIM BURST's nucleus. "Go get him, tiger!"

"You seriously threw him!" Mikoto screamed in horror.

As Touma flew through the heavens a few thoughts arose in his head one of them is how he wasn't dead from the sheer G force alone. Another one was he should really extend his right-hand right about now!

Seeing the boy being flung at him the AIM BURST responded by launching another energy blast full force at the incoming projectile.

***Shatter***

After that failed the collective thought of the beast decided to swat the boy down with its tentacles. Once the tentacle was within spitting distance of Touma he thought it was all over, the Tentacle itself was twice as big as his entire body, and he couldn't raise his right hand to defend himself without risking going off trajectory and missing the nucleus.

"**Super ultra duper punch!"**

Touma felt the immense wind pressure blast right past him and utterly eviscerate the tentacle along with a large part of the AIM BURST body.

As Touma drew closer to hitting his target Something clicked inside of Sogiita's mind as he finally realized who he just threw.

"Kamijou!"

***Booom***

Right as Touma was about to hit the beast a beam of yellow and orange light zipped right past him destroying another large chunk of the AIM BURST but this time revealing the Nucleus it was some sort of glowing Triangular Prism.

"**Do it**!"

Right as Touma was about to make contact with the nucleus he heard the cries of the AIM BURST. It was the voices of everyone who was currently in a coma.

'_I have no choice but to get my hands on it, do I.'_

'_My dream is to become an esper, but my dream will always just be that a dream'._

'_No matter how much effort I put in there will always be a wall of 'talent' standing in my way'_

'_I couldn't stand not having any powers, but couldn't stop wishing for it.'_

_'Am I defective?'_

_You think just caused you guys failed once that you can't try again. Have you all really deluded yourself into thinking that this was the only way possible to fix it? You can't give up on your dreams just because you weren't born with talent! Not when you all have another chance to try again! But you can't do that if you just stay in there just brooding about it and lying to yourselves that everything will get better just because you took some wonder drug! That's just some messed up illusion you put on yourselves so don't have to take any responsibility!_

"**So I'm gonna shatter that messed up Illusion of yours!"**

Ragghhhhh!

***Shatter***

"**WAKE UP!"**

* * *

**Joseph's dinner**

***Shatter* **

"What was that?"

"What was what, Takitsubo?"

"You guys didn't hear that?"

"Your super making no sense."

"Yeah, basically no one knows what you're talking about."

"I'm sorry."Takitsubo then lowered her head back on the table.

* * *

**Windowless Building**

***Shatter***

In a room lit only by the yellow lights coming from circuits on the ground there was something upside down in a tube that can only be described as human, it had both feminine and masculine features having waist-length hair and having a petit but masculine build dressed in a hospital gown. This person was called Aleister the General Superintendent of Academy City. Normally he would have a face of pure apathy but today was a rare occasion where he would let off a small almost unnoticeable smile.

"So you can smile after all."

"Can you really expect me to be apathetic Noukan when my theory was just proven true."

"I guess not"

* * *

**Saten's Hospital Room**

***Shatter***

"Doctor she's awake!"

* * *

**Part 6**

"Please let me go flower child you're crushing me" Pleaded Touma.

"No!" Uiharu said In between sobs of joy.

_Yep, this is happening. Apparently, after I punched the nucleus everyone who was in a coma woke up and the entire AIM Burst disappeared the only problem was when it disappeared there was nothing to cushion my fall, just my luck. It was only thanks to Sogiita who caught me at the last minute that all I have now is a broken arm. Apparently touching something while moving at high velocities is a recipe for getting a fracture. So that's why they took me to, the on-scene ambulance and why I'm currently being crushed to death by Flower Girl here._

"Please, I can't breathe" Touma wheezed as he could feel his soul getting pressed out.

"Uiharu you gotta let him go," Mikoto said worryingly.

Letting Kamijou go from her Vice grip of a bear hug Uiharu starts to wipe away the tears from her eyes. "I don't know how I could thank you because of you I was able to keep my promise to my friend after I, I" tears continued to flow from the young Judgement girls eyes

"Uiharu it wasn't your fault that the USB broke." Mikoto reminded.

"I know but-"

Touma then pulled Uiharu close to him and whispered "Look how about we call ourselves even huh? I mean you did help me out back then remember."

Wrong response.

In between the tears, he could see her glare at him

"Mr. Kamijou how could you possibly think me doing my job as a judgment agent even comes close to what you did!"

Touma sighed he didn't mean to hurt her feelings "Look I'm sorry I made light of what I did really, I should've known that it meant a lot to you so your welcome."

As this was going on the rest of the Judgment crew started to make their appearance including Shirai accompanied by Index.

"Onee-sama!"

"Touma!"

They each hugged them although one was a bit more handsy then the other.

"Kuroko knock it off!" Mikoto growled.

"Touma, you did it!" Index cheered. "I knew you'd be of some help."

(I'm gonna go ahead and take that as a compliment)

Kuroko then turned to Touma. "What happened to you?"

Touma sighed as he rubbed the back of his head with left arm. "Broke my right arm."

"Yikes, that's gotta suck."

"Tell me about it."

Kuroko then let out a sigh. "Look I know you probably already heard this before but, thank you for helping us out, I have no idea what you did or even how you did it but from what Onee-sama told me, if it wasn't for you then things might not have played out as pleasant." she then turned to Uiharu and nodded.

In unison, they both bowed at Touma "Thank you".

"You guy you really don't have to-" he was immediately cut off by both Judgement agents who glared at him.

"Y-Your Welcome," he said with a worried grimace on his face.

He then felt Index tug on his shirt. "What's wrong Touma? You look worried?"

"Well it's just that things are going well for me," Touma then looked side to side. "Too well."

"You're just being paranoid Kamijou," Mikoto said as she waved it off.

"THERE YOU ARE" Touma flinched as he recognized the voice of this particular Judgement agent.

Uiharu then walked closer to Touma. "Um, Kamijou-san do you know her?"

Sweating bullets Touma answered. "Y-You could say that."

Touma then felt someone grab his shoulder. "Remember me Kamijou," Tobi Yumi said in a very menacing voice.

Shirai then stepped up. "What's going on here?"

Tobi then tugged on her Judgement armband. "I'm arresting him."

At that moment everyone lost their freaking minds.

"EEEHHHHHH!?"

"EEEEHHHHHH!?"

"You idiot!"

Uiharu was the first one to come back to her senses. "What do you mean you're here to arrest him, what could he have possibly done?"

Tobi simply reached into her back pocket and pulled out a notepad and started flipping through the pages. "Aiding and embedding, Lying to an officer, Knowingly endangering public welfare, Evidence tampering, and littering."

Uiharu's jaw dropped to the ground after she heard this. "there's gotta be some mistake here, Kamijou-san would never-"

"What do you mean littering! You're the reason I dropped the coffee in the first place." Touma responded.

This left everyone even more confused as he only denied the littering aspect of his list of crimes.

"Fine, I'll cross that off, I guess I was just being little vindictive there." Tobi then crossed of Littering on her notepad. "You're still getting arrested for the other stuff you know." She then pulled out a pair of handcuffs.

"Okay hold on a second! What the hell are you talking about!" Mikoto demanded.

"Well earlier this week Kamijou-san over there was arrested under the assumption that he completely destroyed a local convenience store after Anti Skill officer's assessment, then once he got out all evidence that he was ever there mysteriously disappeared, And earlier today I had him in handcuffs under the belief that he punched through a wall and after he convinced me that he wasn't the one responsible I un-cuffed him and he accidentally let it slip that he knew the real culprit behind the convenience store attack was." Tobi then took a breath. "After that I gave chase, and he got away."

"Wait isn't there something you do?" Shirai asked thinking for any solution to solve this problem. "I mean crying out loud he saved over 10,000 people today."

"EHHHH, But over the radio, I heard that a Gemstone was responsible" Tobi then remembered that Kamijou was a Gemstone. "Damn it"

"Please isn't there anything you can do to help Kamijou-san" Uiharu plead.

"I-I'm sorry, I really wish there was but, I just can't overlook what he's done just because he-"

"Come on, he literally saved 10,000 people there's gotta something you can do," Mikoto said as she stood in front of Touma.

"Yeah," Index said as she too stood in front of Touma. "Didn't you say Touma didn't do either of those crimes, instead of going after Touma why don't you go find the person who really did those things."

"I wish I could but I have absolutely no leads to go on, In the first incident the culprit left no fingerprints and all the cameras in the area were damaged, and in the second incident, Kamijou perfectly matched the description of the culprit."

Mikoto's eyes then widened "Wait, what?"

"The second culprit. He had spiky black hair and from what the witness said he said something about Guts?"

Everyone present save for Tobi immediately turned to Sogiita who was currently talking to Anti Skill officers about his fight. Once he noticed them looking at him, he waved back.

"It was him," They all said in unison as they pointed at Sogiita.

"What!? How can you be so sure?"

"Ask him" Touma deadpanned.

Tobi complied and walked towards Sogiita. "Umm excuse me."

"Yeah"

"I know this might sound weird, but you wouldn't happen to be the one responsible for punching through a wall earlier today would you?"

"Yeah," Sogiita said nonchalantly

(HE ADMITTED IT!)

"W-Why would you do that"

"Hmmm Oh I remember, there were these Gutless thugs who were beating up some poor kid, so I showed the thugs my Guts by punching through that wall, Don't worry they all learned their lesson"

Tobi sighed. "I'm gonna need you to please come with me, okay."

"Sure."

"Wait why doesn't he need any handcuffs!" Touma screamed.

Mikoto then tapped him on the shoulder. "What's the point really, I mean he could honestly just break out anytime he wanted to."

Tobi then walked up to Uiharu. "Look I'll let him slide this time because of this, but he really does need to tell me who did that. Okay."

Uiharu nodded. And with that Tobi led Sogiita away as he kept on telling her the importance of GUTS!

Touma sighed in relief. "Thanks for that really."

"No problem" Uiharu then leaned in and whispered to Touma. "Just don't make that a habit, I don't think '**She**' would approve"

Touma quickly nodded as he got the message.

Mikoto then cracked her stiff neck. "Anyway let's head over to see Saten"

"Wait are you guys going to a certain hospital?" Touma asked.

"Yeah, why?"

"Perfect I was heading there anyway." He then presented his arm which was currently in a splint.

"Okay but first let me go check up on someone," Mikoto said before going to check on Kiyama-sensei who was currently being escorted to an Anti Skill van.

"So what are you gonna do now, about the children I mean"

"I have no intention of giving up on them." Then with a small smile, she looked over at Uiharu and Touma. "It doesn't matter if I'm in a Laboratory or a Prison cell, I'll never give up on them ever again, However, if you don't like the methods I choose to try to save them, then I invite to try to stop me." She then walked willingly inside the van as the Anti Skill officers closed the doors and drove off.

"Hey, Mikoto! Hurry up I wanna go see Ruiko!" Index screamed.

"Coming!"

* * *

**A Certain Hospital**

Once everybody exited the taxi cab they each started stretching after being confined in that cramped Taxi Van.

"By the way, I've been meaning to ask you, how did you get to the battlefield so fast?" Mikoto inquired.

"Oh that's easy after you called me I rushed right out of the restaurant and caught a cab, but after a few miles the cab broke down and I had to run until I reached a bus stop. Once there the bus took me on the freeway a mile away from the Bridge, from there I saw the explosion and decided to run the rest of the way there."

Uiharu and Shirai stared at him awestruck at how anybody can be that unlucky.

"Wait, Touma, why were you at a Restaurant?" Index asked.

"Oh I went there to eat with my-" A look of panic suddenly appeared on Touma's face "OH NOOO!"

"What, What's wrong?" Mikoto asked.

"I stiffed my friend with the bill," Touma then started running back to the restaurant.

"Wait what about the hospital?"

"Tell Saten I said get well" He then ran off towards the sunset.

"Well, that was awkward," Shirai commented.

* * *

**Hospital Roof**

Once Saten woke up from her coma the doctors performed numerous tests on her to make sure she was alright. One of these tests was a SYSTEM scan that showed that she was back at being a Level 0. Normally this would have upset her but instead, it made her feel slightly relieved since she would have another chance to earn that Level herself. Once all the tests were complete Saten decided to head to the roof to get some fresh air. And to see that sunset that she thought she would never be able to see again.

"SATEN-SAN!"

Saten quickly turned around and saw her best friends all rushing towards her.

Nonchalantly Saten greeted them. "Hey, guys."

In unison, they all screamed at her. "Don't hey us!"

"Yeah, we went looking all over the hospital for you since you weren't in your room!" Uiharu screamed.

Mikoto walked up to her. "So you're really alright?"

With a smile, Saten answered. "Yep, I'm back to my old Level 0 self." She then went to hug all of her friends. "I'm sorry for obsessing over something so dumb and cheating in secret. And I'm sorry for putting all of you in danger for me."

"Don't worry about it, I'm just glad you're alright" Mikoto said while hugging her.

"Thank you guys again for waking me up from that nap."

"Actually, Kamijou-san was the one who woke you up." Shirai clarified.

"Huh, you mean that guy Misaka-san brought to us that one day?"

"Yeah, that idiot" Mikoto then smiled and turned to Index. "Turns out he really was useful after all, wouldn't you say Index."

"Yeah!"

"Okay well, I guess I'll have to thank him when I see him again" She then turned to Mikoto and gave her a sly smile. "I'll bet we'll be seeing a lot more of him around won't we _Misaka-san_"

"W-W-W-What is that supposed to mean?!" Mikoto stuttered while turning red.

"Yeah, everybody knows that I'm the only one for Onee-sama!" Shirai then threw herself on Mikoto once again.

"KUROKO I SAID KNOCK IT OFF"

"Hahaha, Hey guy how about we celebrate me getting out of the hospital and go to a family restaurant and challenge ourselves to their newest parfaits," Saten suggested.

"YEAH!" Index and Uiharu said in Unison.

"Wait are you even allowed to leave the hospital yet?" Mikoto questioned while she was wrestling Kuroko off of her.

"Shhhh," Saten said with a sly smile

* * *

**Epilogue**

As Touma ran frantically through the streets he couldn't stop mentally kicking himself for ditching Accelerator with the bill like that. He probably thought he was an asshole and...wait a minute.

Touma then took out his phone to go check if Accelerator had called him and to his horror, his phone battery had died.

"Such misfortune" he groaned while continuing making his way back to the Restaurant

However, when Touma looked at the streets he noticed something was very off. There was nobody there. The streets were completely deserted all the department stores were emptied and all the cars parked on the side of the roads were too, how long has it been like this.

Before he could even start investigating this he felt a sharp pain in his gut and was sent flying across the street a good 10 meters from where he originally was.

The pain was one thing but Touma had to force himself not to vomit as he wheezed on the ground.

"Sorry about that, if you were wondering why nobody was around that's because Stiyl carved the Opila rune for a people clearing field." when Touma looked up he saw her, The girl wore a T-shirt and jeans with one leg boldly cut off she wasn't more than 10 meters away from him, but he could tell in terms of straight-up power she completely eclipsed him.

"Who are you-" Touma then felt someone punch him straight across the face back onto the ground. When he looked he saw the same magician from yesterday, Stiyl.

"That's for the sucker punch."

The girl then spoke up. "Stiyl that's enough." She then motioned him towards her and he begrudgingly complied.

"I am Kanzaki Kaori. I would say it was a pleasure to meet you, Kamijou Touma, you do seem to live up to your other name, The One who Purifies God and Slays Demons, I didn't know that Academy city had any artificial angels".

Stiyl scoffed. "Oh please, that thing had to be the farthest thing from an angel, just some failed lab experiment."

Touma still reeling in the pain forced his body to get up, he only had his left arm for support since his right was still broken, Touma then noticed the large katana the girl was holding. "Y-You! You're the one who cut up Index. Aren't you!"

Kanzaki clenched her fist. "Please don't make this any harder than it has to be, I'd prefer to get through this without having to use my other name."

"Why the hell can't you guys just leave Index alone!"

She narrowed her eyes and answered, "I would like to take Index back into our care, without having to use that name." Before Touma could even process the information Kanzaki unsheathed her blade and the air above Touma's head was sliced apart like she was wielding a laser. He froze in place shocked that she cut the wind turbine behind him like it was made of butter.

"Why are you guys doing this?"

Kanzaki sighed realizing that he had a right to know, and maybe if he knew her circumstances he would even willingly hand her over, "To save Index."

Touma was in complete shock. "What are you talking about?"

"85% of her brain is taken up by the memories of the 103,000 grimoires."Kanzaki's shoulders trembled slightly. "She only has the remaining 15% to use like normal. If she continues to amass memories like a normal person, her brain will quickly burst."

"What are you saying?" Touma said in disbelief.

"If we don't erase all of Index's memories by the end of **July 27** Index will die."

"Y-You gotta be lying right?"

Neither one of the magician's face showed any hesitation.

"You can't be serious! There has to be some other way! You can't take a person's memories away like that! You can't!"

Kanzaki sighed seeing that she had made a mistake, he wouldn't understand. "I'm sorry that you feel that way, so I'll make this as quick as possible." She then proceeded to sheath her blade.

"What are you doing?" Touma asked.

"We're going to incapacitate you for a few days, then we're going to go after your friend Misaka Mikoto and do the same, once that's done we'll take Index back with and that will be that" Kanzaki stated.

"Y-You bastards you can't do this!" Touma screamed.

Both magicians proceeded to walk towards Touma.

"Oi Oi get in line! If anyone gets to beat up this idiot first it's me." All three of them turned their heads and saw a moppy white-haired boy walk towards Touma.

"W-What are you doing here!?" Touma asked frantically.

"TCH! Think you can just stiff me with the fucking bill, did you! I was just gonna let these clowns beat the shit outta you, but then I remembered that you still owe me an explanation and I didn't want to have to wait until you got out of the coma they were going to put you in."

Kanzaki then turned to Stiyl. "I thought you put up a people clearing field."

"I did, I have no idea how this kid got through it," Stiyl answered.

Kanzaki sighed as she unsheathed her blade. "Leave this place now boy if you value your life"

Accelerator then raised his hands as if he was going to surrender and spoke sarcastically. "Oh no! A fucking sword my only weakness"

Kanzaki then narrowed her eyes sufficiently annoyed. "I said leave now you Gnat"

Accelerator then started laughing "Haha I bet that the most amount of damage you'll be able to do against me." Accelerator then pointed to himself. "You see I'm the top dog in Academy city."

Stiyl then narrowed his eyes. "We already took precautions in planning to fight another Level 5 so you won't be any different. So we'll tell you once more, get out of our way or else".

Accelerator then started laughing as he began to move in front of Touma. "You know I was going to let you clowns off with a warning" Once he was in front of Touma he tapped his foot and the ground itself cracked forming a perfectly straight line in front of him covering the whole road including the sidewalk. "But now, that road's closed" He then extended his arm side to side as if challenging them to make a move and with a crazed smile on his face he said.

"So, It's a **One Way Road Now**."

* * *

**Omake**

A Workday for Kumokawa Seria

**First-hour Sogiita Gunha**

***Ring Ring***

"Hello, this is the Gemstone research facility."

"He punched another hole through the wall…...sigh….tell them to fill out a T184 Form and we'll mail them a check.

Ring Ring

"Hello Gemstone research facility."

"He never showed up for class this whole semester…..sigh…. I'll fill out a supplementary class pass thank you for calling.

**Second-hour Himegami Aisa**

"Is she even still alive?" Kumokawa asked

.

.

.

.

.

"Yep still at Misawa Cram School, what a boring girl"

* * *

**Misawa Cram School**

"Achoo!"

"Bless you"

Himegami Aisa then looked side to side. "I feel as though someone just insulted me."

* * *

**Third, fourth, fifth, sixth, hour Aihana Etsu**

"Yep still can't find this person."

* * *

**Seventh-hour Kamijou Touma**

"At least I don't have to worry about you Kamijou-san" she then noticed his incident file was twice as long as everyone else's

Failure to send welfare text - 7

Failure to report for welfare check- 1

Truancy- 3

Aiding and abetting -1

Running away from a Judgement officer-1

Dine and Dashing-1

Kumokawa then slammed her head on the table. "Goddamnit!"

* * *

Touma- So Accelerator you excited for our 2 on 2 fight?

Accelerator- What are talking about 2 on 2? It's gonna be a 3 on 1 then a 2 on 1, First, we're all gonna take turns kicking your ass until we're satisfied and then I'm gonna solo those clowns.

Touma- Wait you don't mean?

Accelerator smirks the taps the ground launching Touma flying through the air.

"SUCH MISFORTUNE!"

Accelerator- Tune in next time to watch me carry this fight in **Magic vs Science 2 My Science name**

**Author's Notes**

If your wondering if Touma really could've used his ability like that then think about it like this he could've erased Fuse=Kazakiri who is an AIM being made up of all of Academy City AIM, So I think this beta AIM BURST who is only made up of 10,000 would've gone down like a sack of rocks against his Imagine Breaker.

Also, Touma uses nicknames on everybody on his phone

Misaki- Golden Girl

Mikoto-Biri Biri

Accelerator- My Albino Friend

Aogami- Blau

Uiharu- Flower child


	16. Chapter 16 Science vs Magic 2

**Hey, thank you for reading A Certain Scientific Counter. Also, I'd like to thank my new Beta-Reader Graeskog for helping me edit this chapter. I always wanted to write this chapter for the sole purpose of watching Accelerator beat the holy right out of a Saint. And to commemorate this occasion I ask that you play Toaru Majutsu no Index III OST Volume 1: Black VS White, during part 2 since it's what I was listening to when I wrote that scene. Without further ado Q&A**

**Linkjames24- Don't Worry there will be, the only reason she's not here is that she lacks the ability, not to be crushed to death by falling buildings.**

**Linkjames24- Yay Junko.**

**Fortitude501- Good play by play, And yeah her job isn't as easy as it looks.**

**Anti-Mage 29- Thank you, and yeah his ability is kinda cheating, and you'll see soon enough.**

**BlueJack22- Thank you, I've been leveling up my writing skills as of late.**

**Awardedall- No problem.**

**MarkGib- Thank you, and the story will only deviate more as they en-counter everything.**

**Aminadab Brulle- The long wait is over my friend, here it is, Accelerator and Kanzaki talk out there differences chapter….No wait don't do that Accelerator…...oh my goodness!**

**Savior555- In district 2, planning something for another arc.**

**Savior555- Thank you, and maybe … Now we enter the final chapters of the Index arc.**

**Rajarshi Sarkar- Thank you for the compliment, also the only reason Misaki can't be in every chapter is that she's underpowered, not much she can do against an AIM Burst or a Saint, and I foreshadowed Sogiita's involvement when he said he was hunting down Touma to test his GUTS! By the way, Academy City invasion arc won't occur sooner since Stiyl said it best, It's just a failed science project.**

**Nguyen Thanh Long- WOOHOO indeed, and he does have Tsuchimikado's number it's just that he doesn't know that he has ties with the magic side.**

**Graeskog- Yeah I agree it was a long chapter, it's just that I wanted to get to the next arc as quickly as possible. The return of the Queen you say…...I forget.**

**Dragonrails- Glad I can bring a laugh to your day, and a good idea! I'll probably message you if I ever run out of Touma and Misaki Omakes.**

**Guest- It is, and here you have it.**

**Chris-Thank you for the amazing overview of my story, and don't worry there will be shonen action baby! Thank you for the** **Complement and here you go!**

**Science vs Magic 2: My Science name**

**July 24**

**Part 1**

As Kanzaki looked over towards the boy that not a few seconds ago she had thought cornered she could immediately tell that this wasn't planned, in fact, the boy seemed more nervous now that he was here.

Kanzaki narrowed her eyes against the posturing white-haired boy "You must be utterly mad or a complete imbecile to think you can even stand against a Saint."

The maddening grin on the boy's face never faltered, "Nah I'm the sanest guy you'll ever meet, though I can't say the same for you two, thinking you actually stand a chance against me, pretty soon that's gonna be a sin."

Kanzaki did not want to fight the boy, not because she didn't think she could beat him, but because of the blowback that this might cause on the church. They were already in deep enough waters as it was when it came to engaging one Level 5 and she didn't want to add to the blowback by adding another one. "You only live once boy, you shouldn't waste it on something like this," she then gestured to Touma, "We don't wish to kill him, all that we are trying to do is save someone that he has misguidedly taken."

It was this moment that the boy lowered his arms and stopped smirking for a moment as it seemed as though he was thinking about a few seconds, something that felt like an eternity for them in the battlefield, he spoke, "First thing you don't live once clown, you live every day until you die, something you're gonna be all too familiar with, Second I heard what you said before about Index".

Kanzaki's eyes widen for a moment before returning to normal, "So you know what we're doing here is just."

The boy then raised a hand to stop her, "Have you ever actually read a book that didn't have to do with 'that'" he then pointed out their exotic wardrobes.

"Yes, I have" She responded.

The same grin that he had on before appeared on his face once again. "Glad to see you aren't letting your abysmal education stand in the way of your ignorance."

"What did you say!?" She growled.

"How retarded do you actually have to be to think that a fucking brain works like that? You have to be the biggest dumbass to think that the human brain worked the same way that a fucking phone does."

Stiyl then stepped up clenching his fist in anger at what he was saying, "What do you know! You didn't have to watch Index as she was suffering!"

The white-haired boy then tilted his head slightly and had an indifferent look on his face, "Then it was probably something else, there no way that anybody could die from brain stress," The boy then straightened up slightly, "Even if someone had perfect recollect, there would still be no way that anyone could die like that," Accelerator then grew a slight smirk, "Though I think you just wanted to believe that because it was a better excuse than admitting that you couldn't help her."

The look on both the saint and witch hunter's face said that they wanted this boy dead. "You little piece of artificially colored garbage! How dare you even imply that I-"

Ignoring the clown's tirade Accelerator thought the situation over in his head 'The _second people lose themselves the easier it becomes to tell what they're going to do next.'_

Before anyone could take any more drastic action, the misfortunate boy decided to jump in front of all of them, the distance between them was only 10 meters, and yet he felt as though he could feel their very breath. Kanzaki who never once took her eyes off the boy was slightly surprised that he stuck around since the most logical thing to do in this situation would be to run and inform his friend of their impending attack. Although maybe he knew that it would have been pointless since she could easily intercept him before he was even able to leave the block.

The misfortunate boy stood in front of his impromptu ally and holding his right arm close to his chest, raised his left at the two, "Stop please! You guys we don't have to fight we all want the same thing, I wanna help Index as much as you guys do so why don't we all work together and-"

"Pretty words idiot, too bad they're not gonna do you any good here" Accelerator then pointed at Stiyl who was currently brimming with rage. Even if Touma would've been able to make a convincing argument it wouldn't have matter in the slightest if the person listening had no intentions on seeing the other side with any form of respect. This was only going to end in one way.

Stiyl, in a fit of rage, threw a card towards the boy and yelled: "BURN!"

***TAP***

Before the card even traveled an inch from the magician's hands Accelerator used the vectors in the ground to launch Touma in the air before whatever this clown had planned could take effect.

***BOOM***

The card suddenly exploded, and a wall made up of pure red-hot fire suddenly appeared before Accelerator. Normally he would just take this attack head-on and let his reflection do the work for him. However, he felt like showing off today, and because of that, he raised both of his hands in front of him. And then by manipulating the Vectors in the very air itself, spread out his arms.

***Whoosh***

The wall of flames that had towered before Accelerator not a moment ago had been parted. The scene was somewhat biblical, akin to how Moses parted the seas in order to make a path for salvation, however, this path was going to be used for someone's damnation.

The look on everyone on the battlefield immediately turned into one of shock. Before anyone could even make a move, Accelerator propelled himself at high velocities to get to Stiyl.

While shooting himself through the parted fire Accelerator noticed that he was feeling hot. This was strange to him since his reflection should've been able to reflect any heat that came his way, but this….it felt as though the very heat itself was being transferred through a different medium than normal.

Before he could think about that any longer he had closed the distance between the two of them and was only a few feet away from being able to end Stiyl.

While Stiyl was a mere mortal and had a reaction speed and strength of one, Kanzaki was not, she was one of only 20 Saints, people who were born with superhuman attributes far above what any human could ever hope of achieving. He would've been dead had it not been for Kanzaki yanking him by the collar and throwing him out of the way.

Kanzaki while being able to see and react accordingly to Accelerator's speed had to purposely slow herself down while moving Stiyl. If she wasn't careful, she would've broken his neck while moving him. So, when she finally did she noticed that Accelerator was only a few inches away from touching her, it seemed as though he had planned on going after her this entire time. A clever but foolish attempt. Within milliseconds Kanzaki was able to grab hold of her sheathed Katana and bring it down on the esper's head. She didn't unsheathe the blade solely due to the fact that he was moving at such high velocities that even a small brick could end his life. While the katana was heading straight for the esper's head she had to properly adjust her strength accordingly, so she didn't snap his neck with the whiplash. As Accelerator was drawing ever closer to her, she finally properly adjusted her strength to hit him with the intention of knocking him out.

***DING***

Kanzaki could feel her very wrist about to snap, it felt as though her arm was about to rip out of its socket as it shot right back towards her. She couldn't understand what just happened it was as if he was able to reflect her attack at her with even greater force.

Right as Kanzaki was about to jump back to retreat, she felt something touch her chest.

***BOOM***

Kanzaki coughed up blood as she was sent barreling down the street. She couldn't properly think since the pain was so immense it felt as though her manubrium had been completely shattered preventing her from breathing properly, that's why when she finally hit the building behind her she was momentarily paralyzed in pain.

As both Stiyl and Touma watched what just occurred, they both could feel the difference in their power. It was something akin to absolution, not only was he able to bypass Stiyl's flames, but he managed to damage Kanzaki, something that Stiyl had rarely, if ever, seen before.

Touma, on the other hand, could feel the difference between Accelerator and the other Level 5s he had met before.

Never before had he ever seen something so concrete something so absolute as that power, it wasn't anything flashy and you wouldn't even be able to tell if he used it or not because it was just there. Something so definite that it was intrinsic to the universe. He could see the stark difference between him and someone like Mikoto or Sogiita who's powers generated something instead of manipulating them. When you generate something you're limited to the amount of energy you have, but when you manipulate something, something as intrinsic as vectors there was basically no limit on what you could accomplish.

While both of them were gawking at Accelerators show of strength, Accelerator had something else on his mind, how she wasn't dead.

Normally whenever he touched someone he could affect all the vectors in their body, but this time he was only able to affect a small area of her body, it was as if she was being held together by some foreign dark matter that he could barely reverse calculate. If it wasn't for him increasing the magnitude, chances are that she would've gotten up by now.

The second Kanzaki hit the building and Accelerator landed, they both realized something had to be done. And that's why Accelerator generated an earthquake to propel himself towards a nearby car and why Kanzaki began to speak her Magic name.

Right as Kanzaki's manubrium healed itself she began to speak.

"SALVA-"

***DING***

At faster than the speed of sound the 10,000-pound piece of metal launched itself at Kanzaki causing the very air to form a vapor cone around it.

"RE-"

***CRASH!***

Before she could utter another syllable, she was crushed by the car and was completely incapacitated at the sudden whiplash from of her head hitting against the concrete of the building behind her.

Finally, both Stiyl and Touma landed on the ground and to their amazement and horror, had realized that the fight had only lasted a few seconds.

Just then both of the two heard a maniacal laughter "HAHAHAHAHA! I'll give you this, you're more durable than most of the windup dolls I'm used to fighting! What happened to all your confidence from before!?"

Stiyl could barely process what just happened. "S-She lost?" He could barely stop himself from shaking.

Accelerator seeing this began to approach him. "Yeah, though I guess I can't really blame her she was up against me." As he began getting closer to Stiyl the very earth around him started to crack with every step he took. "I hope that you'll be slightly more entertaining than her, weren't you mouthing off how you could beat a Level 5, well let's see it!"

Stiyl started to step back in fear. He couldn't think properly, it was true that they did have a method in defeating a Level 5, but he wasn't sure if it would even work on a monster like this. Right as he was about to run, a memory resurfaced in his mind.

_'Those who will harm Index, I won't even let them even come half a step closer!'_

As Stiyl regained his composure, he remembered the promise that he made to Index just a year ago. He would protect her. Even if it was a one in a million shot, he would do anything to save her, even if it meant that by buying Kanzaki enough time to heal herself from that injury, even if he had to die. He owed that much to her after everything they took from Index.

With a newfound determination, Stiyl stood his ground against this monster.

"Oh, did you finally grow a backbone, or did you just finally accept your fate?" Accelerator mused.

Narrowing his eyes Stiyl took out a specially designed rune card covered in black and yellow design that had the symbol for Prometheus and spoke what he thought was going to be his last sentence. If this didn't work, then Kanzaki and Index were as good as dead.

"Fire of the original sin, send your curse of the black to send this sinner to damnation!" Suddenly the card that was in his hand transformed into a ball of black fire.

Accelerator's eyes widen in shock not because he was actually scared, but because he's never seen black fire before. "Cool fire, maybe I'll use it to light your funeral pyre."

While Stiyl was about to throw the ball of black fire at Accelerator, Touma was running straight towards Accelerator knowing that something was off, he didn't know much about magic, but from what he did know you could never be too careful. "Accelerator! Don't let that thing touch you!"

His words fell on deaf ears, Accelerator had no intention of evading this attack nor did he have any intention of blocking it as he did earlier, what he wanted was an absolute victory. That's what he always wanted.

Right as the fire was about to touch Accelerator he knew that he had made a terrible mistake. While the fire itself dispersed as it came in contact with his reflection the heat and the immense pain that came along with it did not.

"AAAAGGHHGHAGHAGHAAGH!"

Accelerator could feel his very skin start to burn off and collapsed on the ground rolling in pain in a vain attempt to make it stop. After the first second was over he could feel it getting harder and harder to breathe, as he went look at his body for the damage he noticed that he didn't have a single burn mark on his entire body.

It was at this moment he started to feel his very organs start to bleed internally, and he started to cough up blood.

***Shatter***

Once Touma finally touched him, Accelerator could feel the pain go away. While it still lingered in his body there wasn't any more being added on him at the very least.

Touma then went to hold Accelerator to check his vitals "What did you do to him!" Touma demanded as the Flame magician stood there with all the confidence in the world.

"Prometheus curse, Infection magic to be more precise. I was never any good at any school of magic differing from fire, but I knew that I would fight an Esper, so I would have to learn. The spell is a reflection on how Prometheus was punished for giving fire to man and was cursed to be tormented endlessly," Stiyl then started moving closer to them, "I knew that your power would've been able to negate the curse but even you can't fix the damage that has already taken place that thing just had both his lungs and liver damaged."

"Stay here." Laying Accelerator down Touma walked up to defend his friend. "You were going to use that curse against Mikoto weren't you!"

In truth, Stiyl had modified the curse so after 3 seconds it would stop damaging the body. It wouldn't have killed an esper so much as put them in a coma which was their intention from the start. Once he used it on her they would've brought her to a hospital. However, he had no desire to tell this boy that. "So what?"

Touma grit his teeth as he was filled with rage "You bastard!" He then charged at Stiyl.

Seeing this Stiyl simply sidestepped him and tripped him causing him to fall down on his arm.

The pain was bad, Touma could feel himself begin to feel woozy.

Towering over him Stiyl began to mock him "Was that really you had! How could ever expect to save Index when you can't even land a hit on me without having someone else to help you do it?" Stiyl then began kicking Touma in the gut, "That's why I'll never trust you with Index, someone who can't even fight by himself has no chance in safeguarding her!"

In between the pain of having his gut destroyed Touma had to admit that he was right. Could he have really defeated Stiyl before if it wasn't for Mikoto's help? Did he truly have no chance in saving Index? As Touma was about to give in to the pain and drift off he started to remember the look on Index's face when she asked him to go to the depth of hell with her.

"It's over brat" Stiyl then stopped kicking Touma and raised his foot in order to stomp Touma's head to knock him out. The moment Stiyl foot was about to land on Touma's head, Touma rolled away and scrambled back to his feet. Touma then charged Stiyl once more to hit him with his left hand. The moment he dodged Stiyl saw that it was a feint and Touma whipped his right fist at him smacking him straight in the face and knocking him to the ground.

"AGHHH!"

Touma felt as though his bone was about to pop out right through his skin.

Stiyl quickly scrambled to his feet and summoned flames into each of hands and simultaneously threw them at Touma's side right side. Suddenly the same monster that Touma had faced before appeared right before his eyes. Innocentius. The monster towered above Touma and the heat it emitted when it was summoned told him that if Stiyl had summoned him even a foot closer he would have had been badly burned.

"Innocentius! Attack the white-haired boy!" Stiyl was no fool, he knew that if Innocentius didn't work on this boy (before) that it was a lost cause to use it against him again. Instead, he wanted to use Innocentius for its speed, he knew that Touma couldn't catch Innocentius before it got past him.

The monster quickly skidded across the road avoiding Touma's attempts to touch it with his left hand and made it behind him.

As Accelerator laid on the ground recovering he saw it. The fiery beast he only thought possible in a video game. He wasn't scared per se, it was more like he knew that this was going to hurt like hell.

Right as Innocentius lifted its giant cross and was about to take a swing at Accelerator he heard it.

***REVERB***

The beast started to disappear, the viscous material that made up the core of the creature started to swirl before his very eyes and after 10 seconds he saw Touma clenching his left fist where the beast was originally.

When Touma's gaze finally made its way to Accelerator, he asked him something, something he never thought he would hear again "**Are you okay?**"

Before Accelerator could register this, he saw Touma collapse onto the ground, left hand still balled up in a fist.

It all went according to plan. Stiyl knew that Touma could catch up to Innocentius, but he also knew that it took him 10 seconds to fully absorb Innocentius, more than enough time for him to get behind him and deck him out.

"Struggling will only make this worse," he then raised his foot yet again to stomp on Touma's head until he heard something that made his entire body go numb.

"**What the hell do you think you're doing!?**" When turned his head, all that confidence he had from before all but vanished. There he was standing before him with bloodshot eyes and blood smeared across his mouth, **Accelerator**.

Before Stiyl could even say a word, Accelerator raised his hand and forced the surrounding winds to congregate to a single point creating what seemed to be a twister and shot it straight at Stiyl.

***Boom***

This Twister slammed Stiyl in the chest firing him through a glass window of a nearby department store knocking him out.

Once that was over Accelerator went over to check on Touma who at this point looked as though he should've been dead.

"Oi Oi, can you stand?"

Touma responded by weakly trying to stand up by himself which prompted Accelerator to help him stand.

"I-I-I'm fine." Touma weakly replied.

"Tch! Don't fucking lie! You're about halfway to be put into the ground." Accelerator shot back.

"S-Sorry. I shouldn't have gotten you mixed up in this. Are you okay?" Touma said despondently.

"Tch!" In truth Accelerator wasn't, for the first time he could remember he felt pain it was as though his guts were on fire. What made it worse was that he found it increasingly hard to even breathe. If it wasn't for him forcing his very lungs to process the oxygen, he very likely would've passed out by now. "I'm fine."

Suddenly the both of them felt an enormous pressure coming from the car that Accelerator threw at Kanzaki. That's when the two of them heard it.

"**SALVARE000** — **Be the salvation of those who cannot be saved!**"

The car that once covered Kanzaki was rocketed off of her like it was nothing revealing her. She was emitting and immense and powerful blue colored aura around herself. It was like the one Sogiita emitted only this time more refined. While all of this was going on Touma handed something to Accelerator.

Narrowing her eyes at the both of them she asked in a cold voice. "**Where is Stiyl?**"

* * *

**Windowless Building**

"What do you plan on doing about this Alister?"

"Nothing. This fight has a 95% likelihood of ending favorably for us, and in the unlikely event it doesn't we still have a backup. For now, just extend the radius of the combat zone."

"Understood."

* * *

Accelerator who was currently helping Touma stand pushed him back onto the ground. "The redhead? No clue though, I think I saw a twister take him to Oz."

Her gaze turned murderous. "**Where?**"

"H-He's there." Not wanting any more fighting Touma pointed in the direction of the department store where Stiyl had landed.

In less than a fraction of a second Kanzaki appeared inside the department store kneeling over Stiyl. She then turned her head towards them. "Which one of you did this!?"

Accelerator raised his hand. "Guilty."

She then slowly walked out of the department store, as she walked the aura she emitted started to crush the surrounding area breaking all the glass that unfortunate enough to be in her presence.

Accelerator then started to walk towards her trying to increase the distance between himself and Touma as much as possible. "You should've seen the look on the guy's face, he looked as though he was about ready to piss himself."

The aura around Kanzaki started to fluctuate almost as though it was a reflection of her very emotions, "Don't you dare talk about Stiyl like that, all he was….No, all we were trying to do was safeguard Index!"

Accelerator then smirked. "And look how well that turned out."

***BOOM***

Kanzaki launched herself at Accelerator hitting him in the gut with the end of her Katana sending him flying, concrete and asphalt-covered the air as he made his way to the building.

***Crash***

As Accelerator tried to get up he noticed two things. First, he had a slight burn on where she had hit him, and second even though he consciously reflected everything even light and sound from him, it still hurt like hell.

_'What the hell is that? Is it dark matter? No, even if it was that still wouldn't account for the fact that it needs a medium to travel through and I know I reflected the direction, but it still hit me anyways. Damn it, think! Why can't I figure out her formula!'_

While it tempted Accelerator too just throw the building that he was on at her, he knew that it wasn't the smartest choice for a multitude of reasons. First, there was no guarantee that it would even take her down, and he didn't want to have to deal with Academy City coming after him. Second that idiot was still there, and lastly, it didn't sit right with him knowing that there was someone out there that could challenge him because if there was then his dream would be impossible.

* * *

**Level six Shift.**

"What do you want?"

"Why do you think I want something?"

"There are only two types of people who come up to me people who want to experiment on me and" Accelerator then gestured to the multitude of thugs scattered around him with an assortment of wounds covering each of them, "Idiots who just want to prove themselves"

The scientist simply smiled. "Just think if you gain even greater power than you have, then what would your life be like?"

"What are you talking about?"

"I'd like to talk to you about an experiment."

* * *

**I'd suggest playing**

**Toaru Majutsu no Index III OST Volume 1: Black VS White**

* * *

**Part 2**

When Accelerator got back on his feet he saw Kanzaki jump 20 meters in the air and land gracefully on top of a department store roof.

From that height, she looked down at Accelerator. Something that he couldn't allow.

Controlling the airflow, he made four tornadoes behind him which carried him to the roof opposite to where Kanzaki was standing.

"So, mind explaining to me what the whole light show was there?"

Still clutching her sheathed Katana, Kanzaki pointed it directly toward Accelerator, "I spoke my Magic name, it is my duty to carry out the meaning of my name."

**"!?"**

"Haha, aren't you a bit too old to be believing in Fairy Tales,"

She narrowed her eyes towards him, "Whether you believe me or not is none my concern."

Accelerator then grew a large grin on his face "Hmm I guess I'll play along. If you're the self-righteous Saint, I'll be the Villain who kicks your ass back to reality."

Accelerator swept his arm in front of him and slashed through the air.

***Boom!***

A hurricane with wind speeds of a 120 meters per second blasted towards Kanzaki.

Within less than a fraction of a second, she unsheathed her blade and brilliantly blue light emanated from it.

"**Nanasen!**"

The hurricane was then diced into by what seemed like pure energy to Accelerator.

_'Apparently, she can manipulate exotic energies, so I guess regular formulas aren't gonna cut. Then again where's the fun in that.'_

***BOOM***

Accelerator launched himself at Kanzaki bringing with him all the glass that had just shattered due to the incredible force he'd just used. A hurricane of glass and assorted scrap metals shot themselves at Kanzaki, who just kept slashing them away.

***BOOM!*** The buildings around the two trembled in the face of these two clashings. They were constantly bombarding each other with attacks moving down the road at high such velocities that the surrounding area was being devastated, street lamps were unearthed with the sole intention of impaling Kanzaki and Kanzaki cutting every last one of them to bits only to have them thrown right back at her with the occasional hurricane. It eventually got to the point where they lapped the entire block destroying everything in their path and ended up where they started. Looking across from each other on top of the buildings.

***TAP***

The roof that Accelerator was standing on just became ammunition, glass, concrete and whatever else was littered there shot itself towards Kanzaki at the faster than the speed of sound.

Once again Kanzaki moved only this time it wasn't to defend but it was to attack.

She rocketed herself off of the building and while midair motioned her katana.

"**Nanasen!**"

As she moved forward she carved a path of destruction that utterly destroyed every last piece of debris that was sent her way.

Using her new-found position, she found herself face to face with Accelerator, with only a mere foot of distance between.

To Kanzaki, every move that Accelerator made was telegraphed. The downside to being so powerful was that you never had to face a challenge, never had to feel what happens when you made a mistake.

As Kanzaki closed in Accelerator lunged for her leaving his chest wide open.

Just as she about to hit him, Accelerator opened his hand revealing a cheap phone, using his reflection he immediately repelled the phone from his hand at double the speed of sound directly at Kanzaki's face, at this range she had no chance of dodging.

***CRACK* *BOOM!***

Once the phone smashed itself against Kanzaki's face, the punch that made its way to Accelerator was softened, although he was still sent careening down back to the ground creating a crater a meter wide in the asphalt.

**65%** This was how far Accelerator had come to finally breaking down her formula.

After seeing that technique up close he could finally see what she used a medium to make the exotic energy move like that.

_Wires_

"HAHAHAHAHA!"

From the roof, Kanzaki brushed off the fragments of the phone from her face and could see the boy laughing like a madman. "Why are you laughing?"

Accelerator let out a wide grin while picking himself up from the crater. "Why? Isn't obvious?"

Kanzaki raised her eyebrow in suspicion. "What are you talking about?"

"Well I'll gladly tell you, but first let me show you how a first-class villain does things."

***TAP***

The moment Accelerator tapped his foot on the ground the very foundations of the build that Kanzaki was on started to crumble.

Naturally, she jumped off. And landed safely on the ground moments away from attacking him until she realized something. The building she was standing on housed Stiyl.

"STIYL!"

She charged headfirst in the collapsing building disregarding the fight in its entirety.

However, the moment she entered she knew it was too late.

Stiyl was no longer here, somehow the boy managed to move his body without her knowing.

***CRASH***

Once Accelerator saw the building collapse on top of her, he wasted no time in sealing her fate.

***TAP***

Cracks started to form around the building eventually fully circling it, once that was done the building was swallowed up by a giant chasm sinking everything and everyone inside to the ground.

Accelerator's plan was simple, bury her alive.

He didn't have much time until his body gave out on him and he had to use this opportunity to end it.

Accelerator then started coughing furiously. After he finally managed to force his body to stop he noticed he was coughing up blood.

_'Damn this isn't good I got maybe less than a minute left until I can't breathe, a war of attrition is out of the question, just what the hell is this bitch even made of?'_

Accelerator still couldn't grasp the concept of Kanzaki's powers, he knew that they used wires to act as a medium to travel but he still didn't understand the energy only way he could, would be if he were to actually touch the energy itself, using energy calculation algorithms he could finally find a way to control the energy itself.

Though even this isn't guaranteed everything that Accelerator had done up to this point was 'guess and check work', continuously shifting through billions upon billions of different equations until he found one that would work on this energy.

"Accelerator!"

He quickly turned his head and saw that same idiot, "What the hell do you…..ahc!" Accelerator was at his brink, he was only a few seconds away from losing consciousness if that happened all of his brain functions would revert to keeping him alive.

"I think I have an idea."

* * *

**Part 3**

The chasm while a nice effort, did little to hold back Kanzaki for little more than a few seconds.

Once she emerged she was covered in bruises, dirt and cut marks. The surrounding area was enveloped by the dust storm that had been a result of her unearthing. She then finally caught Accelerator in her gaze.

"Where is he!?"

Accelerator then swiped his arm to the left pushing away all the dust in that area to his right side revealing Stiyl completely unharmed save for the damage that Touma inflicted on him previously.

Kanzaki narrowed her eyes. "Why did you spare his life?"

"Uh, can we just fight?"

Immediately Kanzaki noticed the blood on his hands. "You don't have much longer do you?"

Accelerator then grinned "You're right, but I only need a second to beat you."

Kanzaki immediately grabbed her Katana and Unsheathed it, she wasn't planning on killing him, as much as she was knocking him out with the sheer force of her attack. From her perspective, he was able to negate all physical damage but like all espers, he had no magical defense.

**"Nanasen!"**

It was at this moment that the fight was going to be decided.

In a blink of an eye, gashes appeared on Accelerator's shirt.

**.000000001 sec**

**.00000001 sec**

**.0000001 sec**

**.000001 sec**

**.00001 sec**

**.0001 sec**

**.001 sec**

**.01 sec**

**100%**

***DING***

**!?**

Kanzaki staggered back in pain as she noticed she was covered in deep cut marks and was bleeding profusely, "H-H-How?"

Accelerator then wiped his hair away showing him grinning victoriously "Hahaha, finally cracked your bullshit formula! You told me about your Magic Name, right? So, why don't I give you My Science name? I'm Accelerator!"

In one last ultimate gamble Accelerator relocated all of his processing ability in order to decode her formula. In that time his body was completely defenseless as he had to turn off his reflection as well.

Blood ran down Kanzaki's body as her wounds started to catch up to her, "T-That's impossible an esper can't use magic!"

What Kanzaki failed to notice was that once he learned the formula to her magic, he also learned how to decompose it.

The steel wires that she used in order to perform her attacks were no under her control and whipped right back at her at decuple the force then she had originally used, if it wasn't for her superhuman durability she would have been sliced to pieces.

"Let me put it in words I think you'll understand, You're Fucked."

Reeling back from hearing this she was almost about to run away, but something didn't feel right. If he were truly at such a huge advantage why wouldn't he come to her and finish it? Suddenly she figured out why this was.

Kanzaki launched herself at Accelerator and instead of attacking with her sword she gut-punched him.

"Gah!"

Accelerator crumbled to the floor no longer having any strength left to stand.

"I see, so you weren't actually able to control my magic simply disperse it and when you do manipulate it you're vulnerable to a counter-attack, so when I attacked you right now you had no way off blocking did you?"

Accelerator was silent.

She was spot on. While Accelerator did have a basic layout of the formula solved, something about it was constantly changing and as such there was a lag in between where he could control the exotic energy and control regular Vectors. If his calculation ability weren't crippled by having to dull his pain, he would've been able to reduce the lag time to a nanosecond.

"I'll give you this esper, you were honorable in your own way." She took note of the fact that even though they were on opposing sides he only fought to protect his friend and while he had the chance to kill Stiyl he didn't take it.

As she leaned in closer, she heard him whisper something before passing out. "A-And I thought he was the biggest Idiot"

Kanzaki realized that she made the biggest mistake ever, she had completely forgotten about the other boy.

* * *

**A Few seconds Ago**

"What!?"

Touma nodded

"Why the hell should I even go along with that stupid plan!"

Touma simply looked up at him and grinned, "You said it yourself didn't you. You wanted to see it in action."

* * *

**Current Time**

"I don't how much MP a Pope Level Spell has," as the wind pushed the dust away there he stood Kamijou Touma, pointing his left fist directly at her.

"But I'd assume doubling it is more than enough to take down a Saint with your HP" Kanzaki immediately tried to move but soon realized that her wounds had finally caught up to her making it so that she was unable to move in time.

Accelerator still barely conscious looked up and grinned at her. "Told you, you were fucked"

The moment he began opened his hand they both could see a brilliant bright white and yellow energy emit from it. The last words they heard before blacking out were-

**"CounterStrike." *BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!***

In one moment, the entire battlefield illuminated from the beam of pure golden energy that blasted out of Touma's hand. Kanzaki had been completely engulfed by the energy and was sent careening down the block demolishing everything in her path until finally getting pinned by the building at the end of the street.

Energy continued pouring out of his hand, it seemed as though the building that ceased her movements was about to give way to the immense pressure that the beam was emitting, it was at this moment Touma clenched his left fist.

The fight was finally over.

**WINNER: KAMIJOU TOUMA**

* * *

**Windowless Building**

"And our 'Gemstone' is the last man standing, Although, that was your plan all along wasn't it?

"..."

"Well, I think I see what your planning to do and I must say Bravo."

* * *

**Part 4**

**Battlefield**

Touma found himself once again in an impossible predicament. While beaten bruised and broken he had to carry not only himself but also Accelerator to the hospital.

Seeing that he had a broken arm and possibly a broken rib, he had to improvise. Luckily for him, he was in the middle of an empty shopping district with stores everywhere and no one inside to stop him. Normally he'd feel guilty about stealing, but he quickly got over that when he realized everything in this block was going to get repaired anyway. He decided to go into the Medical store all the way down the street in order to get his hands on a wheelchair to help him get Accelerator to the hospital.

As he made his way closer to the street he realized that this was the location where Kanzaki's body was. As he got closer he could finally see where her body had landed, she was face-first on the sidewalk, and from what he could tell she was out cold and was covered in minor bruises and burns.

Walking past her body Touma went inside and grabbed everything he'd need.

When he exited the building, he was pushing a wheelchair that was full of medical supplies and immediately went towards Kanzaki.

Touma wasn't much of a doctor, but he played nurse to himself enough to know how to give basic first aid to someone. As he kneeled and gently moved Kanzaki's body, so she was lying on her back. Using a bag of cotton balls he had taken he used it as a makeshift pillow, so she could be more comfortable. He then proceeded to open a bottle of Mentholatum as soon as the lid came off her eyes shot open.

"AHH!" Touma fell back unsure as to what was about to happen now that she was awake.

"Wha-Wha -What happened?" She gently turned her head in order to get a better view of her surroundings. The entire area was in disarray, buildings were on the verge of collapse and so much of the ground was unearthed it seemed as though a carpet bomb went off.

Kanzaki then tried to move but found herself unable to, she had taken far too much damage and her body wouldn't listen to her anymore. "So, this is it." Kanzaki closed her eyes accepting her fate. "If you're gonna kill me at least have the dignity to end quickly." She had resigned herself, she always knew that this day would come. She only wished that it didn't have to come at the cost of her friends.

It was at this moment Kanzaki truly felt regret. She had failed not only herself but Index, because of her she was going to die. When she went to open her eyes, she saw it a fist coming towards her. This was the end.

***THWACK***

"What the hell are you talking about! I'm not gonna kill you!"

Reeling back from having her head smacked, she looked up at the boy who was currently kneeling towards her. "Why? I tried to beat you to a bloody pulp and take Index away from you, I attacked your friend, so why? Why won't you kill me?"

"You're right. You did all of those things. You attacked my friend, you beat me until I thought I was gonna die, but even so, I still won't kill you."

Kanzaki tried to force her body to move, "Why!? That doesn't make any sense. Don't you care at all for Index? If you really did, you would eliminate the threat to her-"

Touma raised his right hand that was still in a fist to stop her.

***SHATTER***

"I do care about Index, and that's why I won't kill her friends."

"H-How did you-"

"That look on your face all but confirmed it for me. That look of helplessness, unable to do anything to help the one you care about. I've seen that face too many times to know what that's like."

Kanzaki tried to look away but found herself unable to. "I-I failed her." Kanzaki sounded like a child about to burst into tears.

Touma put a hand on her head to consul her, failing to protect someone was something he always dreaded.

"Why do you think Index lasted as long as she did. The organization I belong to is Necessarius They are afraid of her. Everyone is."

"Is that why they wanted you to erase her memories? Because they were afraid of her."

"NO!" Denial rather than accept logic, she simply denied it. "We did it to save Index, S-She was so sick." Kanzaki then tears streaming down her face remembering that day. "We waited until the last possible moment trying to find something, anything to help her. We promised to make memories, so she would never forget, and we made journals and photo albums to help her remember, but in the end, we failed her. She forgot everything."

Touma sighed deeply he understood how they felt, having to say goodbye to someone like Index was something as painful as losing someone you love, but having to do that year after year had to be hell.

To protect Index, they made the ultimate sacrifice. They would stop being Index's friend and instead be the villains in her story. That way when she eventually did have to lose her memories, it wouldn't be so bad.

Touma looked at Kanzaki. "I can't possibly understand what you went through. I couldn't imagine what you felt when you had to do it, but in that whole speech of yours I never once heard you talk about how Index felt."

Kanzaki grit her teeth, "Then what were we supposed to do!?"

"Not give up! I know it must feel like absolute hell when you had to lose her, but even so, you can't give up. Even if I failed 10,000 times, I would still try 10,000 more because Index is my friend!"

Kanzaki simply stared at the boy unsure at what to make of him.

"Do you even understand what it's like to lose your memories!? The hell you put yourself in because you think you're broken and don't have all the pieces to fix yourself up. People looking at you expecting, you to know who they are! The look on their faces when you say 'I'm sorry but, who are you!'"

Kanzaki then realized something "Y-You lost your memories too, didn't you?"

Touma nodded. "I got lucky, I got the chance to try to put myself together. I had people around me who helped me, even though I still might be missing a piece here and there, it's not as bad as it used to be. I got the chance to rebuild and make new memories with the people I cared about, but Index will never get that chance if you keep doing this!"

Kanzaki then put her head back on the ground ashamed. "I-I didn't know that's how she felt. All the times I and Stiyl would try to show her the pictures of us to try to get her to remember, Oh god." Kanzaki had tears streaming down her face unable to wipe them.

Touma then grabbed her shoulder trying to shake her back into reality. "Look at me, Look at me!" Kanzaki acquiesced. "What you did, you can never take back, but you don't have to keep going along with it."

"What do you expect me to do!? Let Index die!? I can't, I lost too many people like-"

"Put your trust in me."

"What?"

"I promise you that I'll do whatever it takes to get Index out of that hell."

"C-Can you really say that? What if you can't do it in time, there are only a few days left until we have to erase her memories, what if you don't figure it out in time, what if-"

Kanzaki then stopped when she noticed Touma tap her lightly on her forehead with his right fist. "What if I do find a way? If you always keep thinking about the worst-case scenario you'll never be able to think about the best ones, mine is one where everyone comes out of this smiling." She then saw him give out a warm smile.

It was at this moment that Kaori Kanzaki had truly lost to Kamijou Touma.

* * *

**Battlefield**

After treating Kanzaki's wounds with some minor First Aid, Kanzaki found herself able to stand once again albeit with a bit of trouble.

"Are you sure you'll be alright Kanzaki?"

"Yes, I don't think I'll be at 100% anytime soon, but at least I can move again."

"Okay then, I think I kept Accelerator waiting long enough."

Kanzaki motioned to stop Touma, "Kamijou-san, I'm truly sorry for what I did to you and your friend, but know that, if I see that you can't save Index then I will stop you".

Touma nodded and left her to go pick up his friend and take him to the hospital.

From the outset, he looked completely healthy albeit for the dried blood that was on his face.

As he pushed him throughout the battlefield he made sure to be on the lookout for any falling debris, unlike Accelerator when debris fell on him they did not get reflected. As he traversed through the streets he looked through every alley he could only to find they were all blocked off due to the falling debris. Their only way out now would be through the main road.

Once the two of them were about to leave the battlefield and go back onto the streets he saw it.

The way to the Main road their exit was being blocked off by a building that had collapsed.

"GODDAMMIT!" Touma didn't have much time to waste, he had no idea if Accelerator would survive if they had to take a long way around. He wasn't a doctor but even he knew that whatever Stiyl did to him was killing him.

Then suddenly right before Touma's eyes he could see the building start to levitate off the ground, no not levitate it was almost like it was falling upside down. He didn't know how to describe it.

Touma then ran down the now clear road while pushing Accelerator, hoping that whatever was clearing the way for them would do so for a little longer.

Right as they made their way across the Main Road, the building that was once blocking their path came falling down.

Touma had no idea what happened, so all he said was.

"Thank you!"

"…."

* * *

**A Certain Hospital**

Right as Touma walked through the doors to the hospital he was greeted by his doctor, almost like he knew that he was coming.

"Doc I need your-" Touma then passed out unable to bear the pain any longer.

Just then a team of nurses went to lift Touma and Accelerator and put them on stretchers.

* * *

**A Certain Hospital**

**Epilogue**

**July 25**

"Huh!?, What where am I!? Where's-"

"Calm down, everything's alright."

Touma looked up he saw the frog-faced doctor looking over him. "What happened to the guy I brought with me?"

"Well it seemed you brought him just in time, his liver looked as though it was developing Cirrhosis. I've usually only seen that with people with a history of alcohol abuse, and his lungs didn't look any better."

Touma then had a nervous look plastered on his face, "I-Is he gonna be alright?"

The doctor simply narrowed his eyes at him, "Who do you think I am?" He then had a sincere smile painted on his face, "He'll be fine, Lucky enough for him I was able to operate just in time before any of those injuries could become permanent."

A wave of relief then rushed through him, "Thank goodness."

"Though he's still not out of the woods yet."

"W-What do you mean?"

"I don't know how he did, but somehow he was able to block off certain neural impulses from reaching his brain, and as a result, his body is paying the price."

"T-There gotta be something you could do right?"

"There's no need to worry, he just needs time to wake up on his own."

"Do you know how long that'll take?"

"Mmmh, hard to say, but if I had to guess anywhere between 3 to 7 days,"

"That long!"

The doctor shook his head, "Normally the process would be reduced to 2 days, but because of his ability normal treatments won't work. Physically he's perfectly healthy and that's why his ability is working normally, but mentally he still needs some time to heal."

Touma sighed in relief, "Thank you so much for taking care of him".

"There's no need to thank me I was just doing my job. By the way, in case you were wondering the reason you passed out in the middle of the lobby was that one of your ribs punctured your lungs."

"WHAT!?"

The doctor nodded his head, "If you were even one minute slower you would've suffocated to death."

Touma immediately started to sweat as he knew where he was going with this, "D-Does that mean…...you had to call"

The doctor solemnly nodded as he went to open the door, "Good luck."

With all the grace in the world, in stepped through the door none other than the Queen of Tokiwadai herself, Shokuhou Misaki.

"H-H-H-How's it going…"

Misaki remaining calm cool and collective turned to the doctor, "Can you give us a moment?"

Before Touma could protest the frog-faced doctor was already gone.

_TRAITOR!_

Now alone Touma says the one thing that he shouldn't have, "How was your day?"

* * *

**Omake**

**The True Battle of Magic vs Science 2**

Index: Pfft, Do you honestly think you could beat me Flower hair.

Uiharu: Oh please, don't get ahead of yourself Index-sama it'll only make it look that much worse when I win.** *CLAP*** Uiharu initiates her **Thermal Hands**

Saten: Okay in 3...2…..1….Go!"

Both Index and Uiharu launch themselves at their parfaits as they are having an eating contest loser pays or in this case if Index loses Mikoto pays.

Shirai shakes her head not knowing how this went so wrong so quickly. "I hope Kamijou-san is having a better time than us.

Mikoto in between laughs: "Oh, please how much trouble could he have possibly gotten himself into."

* * *

**Battlefield**

Touma: Achoo! GAH! GAH! GAH!

Stiyl while kicking Touma in the ribs: "Stop sneezing you, cretin!"

* * *

**Author's Notes**

Accelerator had his Calculation abilities crippled due to the fact that he controlled the neural impulse to his brain so that he wouldn't feel pain anymore, thus slowing down his processing abilities significantly as he had to reject more and more neural impulses to stop the pain along with controlling the air to his lungs.

Also, the only reason Accelerator went along with Touma's plan was because he figured out Kanzaki's formula, if he didn't he never would've gone along with it.

If Accelerator was a more strategic fighter he would've cleaned house with both of them. But that's not the way he rolls.

By the way, the reason why Touma's countershot out pure energy was because magic is based on a belief system so what Touma did was change the spell to its base form, Mana and shot it.


	17. Chapter 17 R&R Reality and Recovery

**Hey, thanks for reading a Certain Scientific Counter. Sorry for the delay, but I had Finals to finish and I'm happy to say I'm done with them. I'd also like to thank my Beta-Reader Graeskog for helping me edit this chapter. And now without further ado Q&A.**

**Awardedall- Thank you**

**Chris- I did not know that, thanks for telling me.**

**Fortitude501- Thank you I always wanted to write that fight, also Heaven Canceller doesn't have that ability someone just told him he was coming.**

**Anti-Mage 29- Yes I did, That's why I love comments you guys always have good ideas to help me improve the story, Also for the time, it's because Accelerator claimed he needed only a second to beat her so I started the clock at a microsecond and let it move forward to a tenth of a second.**

**Schwarzer- Your right I was going to explain how the spell worked in more detail but I thought it would take away from the story if I went in depth about it. The requirements for using the spell "Prometheus's Curse" is that the card has to have gold film that came from Greece, also the spell takes three days to create and the caster can only make one at a time, this represents how it Took Prometheus three days and three night to steal just one piece of fire. And to top it all off the spell has a 25% chance of misfiring. By the way, Touma could totally beat up Stiyl even when he had a broken arm, got gut punched and got sent fly 30ft back, and got vector launched in the air with a ground pound, it still took Stiyl to use a cheap move to take him down.**

**BlueJack22- Thank you. And yeah.**

**Rajarshi Sarkar- Thank you, and they weren't watching a simulation tree diagram is a hell of a thing. And I doubt they'd talk since he's in a coma.**

**MarkGib-Thank you, I have been upgrading my writing skills.**

**Savior555- Thank you, and I know reading back to some of my earlier chapters showed me just how much I improved, and now for the WORLD BOSS!**

**The Rupture- Thank you The Rupture, welcome to fellowship.**

**Aminadab Brulle- Thank you I always pictured Accelerator fighting the norms of Anime logic by not letting them power up, I mean seriously why do characters just stand there and watch their opponents get stronger, Anime Logic.**

**Guest- Thank you, here's the chapter.**

**Chris- Thank you, The best fights are the ones where both opponents not only use their strength to fight but also their brains, I planned on redeeming Touma with this fight since he's the one who came up with the plan in the first place.**

**Chris- Yeah I can see that, though pre-amnesia Touma was always a savage, I mean he told some girl he just met that she was flat chested and should just give up.**

**Guest- Looks like Touma is gonna have to find a way to counter this...Who am I kidding?**

**Redith- Were all free to our own opinions I guess.**

**Savior555- Thank you for keeping the peace.**

**Touman- She wasn't but then I read the new chapter of A Certain Scientific Railgun Sidestory: Astral Buddy and got an idea.**

**Redith- Its all good man.**

**Nguyen Thanh Long- This time on ACSC!**

**R&R Reality and Recovery**

**July 25**

**Part 1**

**Judgment office branch 177**

Due to recent events surrounding the way the Level Upper case was resolved, Kuroko along with every other agent from that Judgement branch were asked to come in today to fill out the necessary paperwork required due to a certain misfortunate boy's actions, much to the dismay of Kuroko who was looking forward to helping out Mikoto with 'cleaning the pool', but alas she accepted that this world was a cold place even in the summer and left her poor Onee-sama to finish cleaning the school's Olympic sized swimming pool by herself. Before going, however, she asked her to take Index along with her, while this was odd to Kuroko she still agreed and brought Index with her to the Judgement office.

"Hey, do you think Touma's gonna be okay?" The silvery haired nun asked.

While sitting at her desk Kuroko looked up from the mountain of paperwork in front of her.

"Hmm, I don't know, I mean he did break his arm, why do you ask?"

"Because he wasn't at the hospital when we came back. I went to go look for him and everything. I even asked the Gekota doctor if he'd seen him."

Kuroko slightly twitched, "For the last time Index-sama, that was just a doctor, not a Gekota."

_'Honestly, Onee-sama I think you're rubbing off too much'_

"I wouldn't worry about it too much Index-sama, I mean he was the one who stopped the AIM Burst after all." Uiharu chimed in leaning back on her chair finished with all her work.

"Huh?! How'd you finish so quickly I'm still not even halfway done yet!" Kuroko protested as she still hadn't even made a dent on her paperwork.

Uiharu nervously looked away. "Oh, you know." In truth, Konori-senpai had always given Kuroko the lion's share of the paperwork, due to her always getting into trouble. "I'm just a fast writer."

Trying to avoid talking about the subject anymore Uiharu quickly got up from her chair and went to sit with Index on the couch, "Anyways, hey Index-sama, how do you know Kamijou-san?"

"Oh, Touma and Mikoto both saved me when I was in trouble." Index clarified.

This caused her to get looks from both of the young Judgement agents.

"So you're saying that Kamijou-san always helps people in need," Uiharu asked.

Index nodded. "Ever since I met Touma he'd always helped everyone around him. This one time I saw him help a kid get his kite out of a tree only to fall back down from a cat that was already up there scratching him. Don't worry though he got the kite back and it turned out that the cat that scratched him was lost, and we found his owner that same day. I wish I had a cat."

Uiharu started to grow a devious grin on her face, "So he likes to help people."

"Don't even think about it Uiharu," Kuroko warned.

Index tilted her head in confusion, "Think about what?"

"Say Index, do you think-"

She was abruptly cut off by Kuroko, "It wouldn't work Uiharu."

"Huh? What are you talking about Shirai?"

Kuroko put down the document she was working on and looked directly at Uiharu, "Do you even know what the requirements to join Judgement are?"

Uiharu puffed her cheeks, "Of course I do! Anyone can join as long as they do 4 months of basic training and sign 7 release forms."

"Well you're half right, anyone can join no matter who they are, however they need to have an OAS of at least a 75% to qualify."

"What's an OAS?" Index asked as she had no idea where this conversation was going.

"OAS stands for Overall Academic Score, it combines both a student academic abilities and their SYSTEM score." Kuroko clarified.

"Huh, but I thought Kamijou-san was a Gemstone, so shouldn't he be more than qualified to join?"

Kuroko shook her head, "I already checked when I first found out he was a Gemstone, his OAS is 70%"

"What!? How is that possible!? That's almost the same grade that Saten has!"

Index eyes suddenly widened as she gasped. "So Touma is dumb!"

Kuroko sighed. "He's not dumb, he's just …talentless."

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

Kuroko then opened a secret drawer in her desk and pulled out a folder labeled: 'Onee-sama's friends'."I always do a background search on everyone who gets close to Onee-sama and what I found was-" Suddenly Kuroko felt a dark aura behind her.

"You wouldn't happen to be misusing Judgement resources?" Konori-senpai then fixed her glasses showing off her Scary Shining Glasses abilities. "Would you Shirai?"

Trembling Kuroko slowly turned around. "N-No, never that would be a terrible-," Her whole world seemed to fall apart as documents fell out of the folder that read, **For Official use only**.

"I think we need to have a word in private Shirai."

Kuroko with a defeated look on her face complied, "This world is a cold, cold place" She mumbled.

Once Kuroko was escorted out Uiharu went over and scooped up the folder that she left behind. Most of it was filled with useless stuff but the part that interested her the most were the most recent entries, Kamijou Touma and Index Unknown.

"Hmm, it seemed as though Shirai wasn't able to find any information about you, Index," Flipping through more pages she eventually found Touma's entry. "Wow, so he really does have a 70%,"

"Isn't that bad?"

Uiharu only half paying attention answered Index. "In most cases, yes, but in Kamijou-san's case not so much. He has an Academic score of 90% and a SYSTEM Score of 50%."

Index only having limited knowledge of the science side was unsure what to make of this.

"But that doesn't make any sense. Why would he have the same grade as a Level 0?" Uiharu mumbled to herself.

"What are you talking about?"

Uiharu now finished reading the file looked up at Index, "Well Index the way grading works in Academy City is, just going through the Power Curriculum Program alone gets you a 50% but as your esper ability increase show does your grade and your Level."

"So, does that mean Touma's on the same level as a Level 0?"

Uiharu nodded, "He must really have some bad luck."

Index nodded in agreement. "Tell me about it."

* * *

**A Certain Hospital**

Fighting the urge to sneeze Touma awaited a reply from Misaki.

"..." Not saying a word Misaki simply looked at Touma.

"..."

It was at this moment Touma envied Accelerator for being in a coma right now.

"Ahh… Misaki?"

Misaki took a deep breath, "First are you okay?"

"Uh...yeah…." _'If don't count how I almost suffocated to death I'm peachy.'_

"Good" Misaki then started to approach Touma.

"EEEK" Touma extended his right hand and braced it with his left.

Misaki stood there bewildered and embarrassed for a moment at what just happened. "Uh, what are you doing?"

Touma stood there frozen in place for a bit realizing what he just did, "S-Sorry, Force of habit".

"Did you think I was gonna hit you?"

"Uhhhh" In his defense, his reflexes were honed for danger

Misaki slowly went for Touma's right hand and gently set it down and hugged his chest gently. He could feel her ample chest press against his and could smell the sweet smell of honey from her hair.

Now blushing and confused at the sudden turn of events, Touma asked for clarification as to what exactly was going on, "S-So your not mad at me?" Touma meekly questioned.

Looking up Misaki answered, "Am I mad that you lack the ability to use a phone yes. But I'll never be mad when you're being you, my prince. You saved over 10,000 people."

"Huh? How'd you know that?" Touma asked.

Misaki simply grinned at him, "Do you still doubt my information gathering ability, I was informed by one of the members in my clique that a Gemstone resolved the incident in question and that the sound of Glass shattering was heard when the Beast disappeared."

_'I completely forgot about that.'_

"Well yeah I did do that but-"

He quickly silenced by Misaki kissing him on the lips silencing any protest he had. After what seemed like an eternity of bliss she finally let go, "I knew you were the one who did. See I knew my Prince did it"

Touma slowly coming back to reality didn't notice the fire in Misaki's eyes before it was too late.

With a beautiful smile that was accompanied by a malicious dark aura, she asked, "Now my Prince, which one of them did this to you."

Touma was stunned by the sudden turn of events, not just a few moments ago he thought he was the one going on the chopping block but now he was the one doing the sentencing.

"Was it that Moronic boy or was it…" She couldn't even finish that sentence since if it was the latter, there would be hell to pay.

Touma blinked as he processed her question, "Well you see-"

Touma not being one to sentence an innocent person to death was going with the former. Since it was Sogiita's fault that he broke his arm, so technically it wouldn't be lying.

His words seemed to die in his throat as he looked at Misaki's face.

"Um...well." Touma then began rehearsing what he was going to say in his head.

_It was Sogiita, he threw me and… well, this. It's not lying, right? I mean he did do some damage, right!?_

Touma once again looked at Misaki's innocent face.

"Is something wrong my Prince?" Misaki worryingly asked.

The look she gave Touma told him that she would've believed anything he told her no matter what it was. She had absolute faith in him, and what was he about to do.

Touma clenched his fists and looked down in shame, "I-I'm sorry."

"Touma?"

"I-I didn't get these injuries from either of them or from fighting the AIM Burst."

"What're you talking about?"

"You shouldn't blame them, they both told me to go away and that they had it covered, the only injury I got from there was a simple fracture."

"B-But if it wasn't from there, where did you get your injuries?"

"I-I got attacked by the same person who set my dorm on fire."

Misaki covered her mouth with her hands in shock.

"But don't worry I-" Touma was abruptly cut off by Misaki

"Don't worry!?, what do you mean don't worry!"

"Umm well you see...it turned out that they only tried to attack me because-"

"They!? Who are they, Touma!?"

"Well him and his friend, they only wanted to help their friend though." Touma weakly replied.

Misaki took a deep breath. "How would attacking you help their friend?"

"Uhh, well you see they were gonna try to…" Touma had no idea how to defend Stiyl's and Kanzaki's actions without making them sound like psychopaths, so he told the truth, "...put me in a coma."

"WHAT!?"

"B-But don't worry, my friend and I, we stopped them, so they won't be hurting anyone anymore" Touma tried his best to reassure her but it did little except make her worry even more.

"How do you know that!? How do you know that they won't just come back and finish what they started? And who is this friend you're talking about?"

Touma knew if he explained everything fully to Misaki then there would be no turning back. "Look Misaki, I know what they did to me was wrong, but they had a good reason. They were just trying to save their friend. While misguided, they were only trying to help. And like I said, I managed to talk one of them down, so I'm pretty sure they won't try anything like that again."

Misaki bit her lip and looked at him. "Why do I feel like there's something you're not telling me?"

Touma turned his head unable to face her. "Touma…."

"L-Look Misaki... I'm trying to-"

"To what!? Protect me? Well, I'm sorry, but the more you leave me out, the more you're hurting me, Touma." He winced at this, "I thought we were a team. So, why won't you tell me?"

"It's just that-" _'I don't want to see you hurt, I know you would do anything to help me but I never want to see you in the same position I'm in right now.'_ "I'm selfish"

Misaki was momentarily stunned. "What?"

"I'm selfish, I... I could've helped that person but I hesitated. It was just for a second and yet... I cared more about what I could've lost than them…. that's not me. That's not the person I ever wanted to be. That's why I wanted to do this by myself and I wanted to help them because… I messed up."

_'Will you follow me to the depths of hell?'_

Touma then felt her hand on his shoulder. "Everyone makes mistakes Touma."

"I-I know but its just…. I really messed up, because of me they got hurt badly. I dragged my friend into this whole mess and now there the one in the coma instead of me. I just didn't want to keep dragging people down with me."

Misaki then gently put her forehead on Touma's, "You're not dragging anyone down Touma, you care about people too much to ever do that. I know you think you made a big mistake but in reality, you just acted as anyone else would... No, you acted better than most people, you tried to make it right. You saw you made a mistake and did everything you could to fix it."

"Then why do I still feel like garbage?"

"Because you always kick yourself whenever make a mistake. You have to accept that there are gonna be times that you will mess up, but you have the ability to change yourself and not make the same mistakes again."

Touma smiled softly, "I guess, so are you mad?"

Misaki then sat on Touma's bed, "That depends, are you gonna tell me what really happened?"

"Y-Yes, but I need a little time to fix everything."

Misaki narrowed her eyes, "How much time?"

Touma flinched a little, "J-Just 3 days, after that I'll tell you everything, it's just that the person I'm helping is kinda poisonous to you?"

Misaki raised her eyebrow at this, "What are you talking about?"

"Well, you see if you ever accidentally read their mind or anything you would probably die."

"I'm not even gonna pretend to know what you're talking about, but I won't let you do this by yourself, Touma."

Touma nodded, "I know. That's why I'm not doing it alone, my friend is helping me with this."

Misaki looked confused, "Touma didn't you mention your friend was in the hospital?"

"M-My other friend."

"Are these new friends or are they-" Misaki had to force herself not to gag from remembering his current friends, "The perverts."

Touma quickly reassured her, "They're new, don't worry." _'Besides I doubt any of them are gonna talk to me until I move back into my dorm'._

Misaki sighed in relief, not only because Touma made new friends but because now she'll be able to worry less about Touma being influenced by those perverts. "So Touma, who are these new friends?"

"Oh let me show you."

* * *

**Accelerator's Hospital Room**

When Misaki entered the room, she saw an albino student laying down on the hospital bed. What surprised her the most, was that there were no electrodes attached to him at all. Normally in cases of coma patients, they would be hooked up to a plethora of devices all trying to detect some sort of change in their brainwave activity.

Misaki then turned to Touma, "Who is this?"

Touma smiled back at her, "He's my friend Accelerator, though I don't think that's his real name."

Misaki nodded, "Okay…." Misaki's face then turned into one of shock, "J-Just to clarify, is he the Accelerator who's the number one esper in all of Academy City?"

Touma nodded, "Yeah".

"..."

"..."

"Uhh, Misaki are you o-"

JUST HOW POWERFUL IS YOUR FRIENDSHIP ABILITY TOUMA!?"

Touma jumped back after hearing Misaki scream but then grinned after seeing Misaki do her little tick again.

"H-How!?"

Touma rubbed the back of his head, "Well you see Accelerator was the guy who was stealing all my coffee."

Misaki turned pale, "S-So he's the person who demolished that convenience store?"

Touma nodded, "Yep, but in his defense… I got nothing."

Misaki then started shaking. "T-Touma you do realize that Accelerator is the most powerful esper in all of Academy city right. He could probably take on the entire world's Military if he wanted to."

Touma tilted his head, "Really? I don't see it, I mean when I first met him I knocked him on the ground."

Misaki's jaw almost hit the floor. After the initial shock of seeing the most powerful esper in Academy wore off she then began to wonder, how did he end up in a coma?

"Touma, how did this happen?"

Touma grimaced remembering how this all happened, "He saved me, but he got hurt in the process doing it."

Misaki then scanned Accelerator for any injuries, "What's wrong with him?"

"Well, the doc said that he blocked some neural impulses from reaching his brain, and because of that he's in a coma." Touma then rubbed the back of his head nervously, "I was wondering if there was anything you could do for him."

Misaki looked unsure. "I don't know if I can. If it was that easy, then he wouldn't be number 1. From what I hear he can reflect basically anything that includes my Mental Out."

"Is there really nothing you could do?"

Misaki then took a remote out of her bag and without missing a beat, threw it at Accelerator's head.

***Ding***

The remote came flying back towards Misaki. If it wasn't for Touma catching it at the last second, she would've gotten pegged in the face for sure.

"What was that for?" Touma asked.

Misaki took a moment to analyze the situation.

_'If his reflection is still up, there's nothing I could do. Even if Touma can get past his reflection with his hand that doesn't mean… wait'_

"Touma do me a favor and touch Accelerators head with both your hands."

"Huh? Why do you want me to do that.?"

Misaki turned to him as she was taking off her gloves, "If you used both of your hands I think it would create enough of an opening for me to use Mental Out. Whenever you use your powers it either gets erased or absorbed, so right now I need you to do them both on just a small section of his head. But the second I say to let go of his head you have to let him go with both of your hands, so I can use Mental Out. The opening would just be for a second but even so that'll be more than enough for me."

Touma looked nervous, "Are you sure? I mean if what you're saying is true, wouldn't that mean if you touch him for even one second longer, your finger would snap?"

Misaki nodded, "Probably, but even, so I don't like to leave a debt unpaid".

"Alright then, just be careful."

Misaki simply looked at him and smile, "Don't worry, I am more than capable of doing something like this with my ability."

Touma nodded and proceed to put his hands on the top of Accelerator's head, Misaki told him that's where his Central Sulcus was.

***SHATTER* *REVERB***

With a look of concentration painted on her face Misaki inched her bare finger between Touma's hands, she wasn't insane enough to actually risk her whole hand when all she really needed was a point of contact to establish a connection.

"Now!"

In less than a fraction of a second, she made a connection to Accelerator's brain.

The moment Touma let go he also pushed Misaki's finger out of the way.

Touma then turned to Misaki who looked pale, "Are you okay?"

It took her a moment to regain her composure. "Y-Yeah, I'm a little nauseous though."

Touma then lead her to a chair that was nearby and helped her sit down, "Are you sure you're okay?"

Misaki slowly nodded as she held Touma's hand, "Yes I'm sure my Prince, and about your friend, I'm sorry but there wasn't anything I could do."

"Really?"

Misaki nodded, "My Mental Out allows me to control the moisture in someone's brain, I make the connection by sending out a small current of bioelectricity, but whatever he did was just on another level, he was able to manipulate his own neurons making it, so he didn't feel any pain."

"Is that bad?"

"Very, even if he was able to stop the neurons from reaching his brain, all it would do is just stall the inevitable."

Touma grimaced. "And that is?"

"The reason he's in a coma right now is that his brain is being overflown with neurons all carrying the same message, **Pain**."

Touma walked away from Misaki clenching his fist, realizing what Accelerator was currently feeling.

"Dammit!" Touma punched himself in the arm frustrated at what he put his friend through.

***SHATTER***

"T-Touma."

Touma quickly turned around to reassure her, "I-I'm sorry and not mad at you, I'm just mad at myself for letting him do that" Touma then reflexively touched his left hand with his right.

***SHATTER***

"I'm really sorry if I scared you it's just…... I'm sorry." Touma then lowered his head in shame.

Misaki then hugged Touma, "I know, but if it makes you feel any better I was able to take away some of his pain".

"Really?"

Misaki nodded. "By the way, I have a surprise for you."

"What is it?"

Misaki then grew a devious smile on her face, "Your dorm is finally fixed, you know what that means."

* * *

**Touma's Dorm**

The moment Touma walked through the door he could hardly recognize his dorm, not only was everything refurbished but everything was new. His once modest kitchen was turned into what you would find in a restaurant, he had a new stove and every other kitchen appliance he could think of. And the new fridge was twice the size of the old one.

"H-How did I afford this?" Touma worryingly questioned.

Misaki simply smiled. "Well, you know how we filed that reimbursement case at Judgement."

Touma slowly answered. "Y-Yeah?"

"Well, it turns out they paid for two dorms instead of one, and since you only had one dorm's worth of equipment, I upgraded."

Touma turned pale. "W-Wait did we commit insurance fraud."

Misaki pouted. "No, you really do have two dorms."

"But-" Touma looked around at all the new stuff in his dorm, _how much longer was all of this going to stay in one piece?_"My luck"

Misaki quickly shushed him by placing her finger on his lips, "Shhh, you know what time it is."

Touma sighed in defeat and hoped that whatever his luck was going to hit him with would wait until after he was finished saving Index. "Did you restock the fridge?"

Misaki grinned beautifully like a child. "Of course."

He then went to the kitchen. "What do you want?"

Misaki tilted her head. "I'm feeling Italian."

Touma then went into the fridge and started pulling out ingredients. "Is an Apple Risotto okay?"

Misaki gleefully nodded, "What about dessert?"

"Hmm, since we're going Italian why not go all the way, do you want cannoli?"

Misaki could feel her mouth begin to water, "Yes."

He then started to peel an apple and dice it into small cubes. "By the way Misaki, you never told me how your day went."

Sitting on the chair next to the counter to get a better look at Touma's cooking ability Misaki answered. "Nothing much, all I did was go to that research lab I told you about, the only interesting thing that happened that day was me getting a call from Junko telling me that everyone who was in a coma woke up."

"Okay," Touma then started to heat the butter that was in the pan and began to sauté the onions. He then pulled out a second pan and cooked 2 slices of bacon.

"By the way, Touma do you really think you can trust your new friend, Accelerator?" Misaki asked.

"Yeah of course," Touma answered as he added rice to the pan.

"It's just that, you know he's violent right. I mean he was the one who destroyed a convenience store over a pack of coffee."

Touma then added 2 tablespoons of white wine. "I know he might be a little rough around the edges, but he means well."

Misaki looked unconvinced, "Touma are you sure you can trust him?"

Touma then added a cup of water and apple juice to the blend as well as 1 teaspoon of Granulated Consommé and left it on the stove to simmer and went over to Misaki. "Misaki, I'd rather trust him and regret it than doubt him and live to regret it. He saved my life after all and I know he's a good guy".

Misaki pouted, "I know it's just I worry that's all. I don't want to see you getting hurt." She then felt his hand pat her on the head.

"Don't worry, I promise you no matter what happens I'll come back alive."

Misaki smiled, "I'll hold you to that you know."

Touma then gently kissed her, "I know."

Touma then went back to the pan and saw that all the liquid was absorbed and proceed to add the apple cubes and teaspoon of lemon juice on the risotto before putting it on a plate.

After that, he put the bacon on the plate and put just enough salt and pepper to give it the seasoning it needed.

"Misaki do you want cheese?"

"Yes please!"

Touma then brought the plate over to Misaki and started to grate the organic cheese in front of her, the second the cheese hit the Risotto it was melted and covering the risotto in its golden nectar.

Misaki had to force herself not to drool.

"Bon appétit Golden girl"

Misaki clapped her hands together, "Thank you for the meal." Then she proceeded to gracefully take a bite of the Risotto.

"MMMMHHH It's so good."

Touma smiled at the compliment, "Thanks."

"The texture it's sweet but savory too, I can feel the crunchiness of the apple as it explodes with flavor after every bite" She then gave Touma a thumbs up, "Five out of Five my Prince!"

"Thanks, but I'd hardly call it-"Touma then saw Misaki staring him down.

Misaki then stood up "I the great Shokuhou Misaki have given my judgment".

"Okay," Touma deadpanned.

Once Misaki finished eating the Risotto, Touma handed her the plate of freshly made cannolis

Touma could see her eyes sparkle as he arrived with the plate, "I missed this,"

Before taking a bite Misaki looked at Touma, "You know this doesn't get you off the hook for lying to me, right?"

"B-But I never actually lied to you."

Misaki narrowed her eyes at him, "Omission is a type of lie to my Prince."

Touma went to go say something but stopped after he realized that she was right. "You're right I shouldn't have lied to you, I'm sorry."

Misaki smiled, "You're forgiven also I'll give you your 3 days to try to fix this since it means so much to you, but after that I want you to tell me everything. No more omitting details, okay?"

Touma nodded, "I got it".

"Good." Misaki then looked down at her plate, the cannolis were all lightly drizzled in chocolate sauce and on the side the plate was the design of a star made with the sauce. The reason she had to say this before was that she would've been in too good of mood after tasting them to admonish him.

The moment she took the first bite one thought came to mind.

**_I need to marry him!_**

* * *

**Part 2**

**Judgement Office Branch 177**

After being scolded by Konori-senpai for misusing Judgement Resources, Kuroko was stuck with even more paperwork as punishment.

Once Kuroko went back into the main office she saw Uiharu and Index huddled together at the couch reading her Folder.

"What do you two think you're doing?" Kuroko demanded.

"EEEEKKKK!" Both Index and Uiharu screeched after being found out.

Before either of them could make a break for it, Kuroko teleported in front of them and put her hands on both of their shoulders.

Kuroko then turned to Index and gave her a twisted smile, "If you lie to me, we're going on a wild ride Index."

Having gained a phobia for teleported Index folded. "We were just reading up on Touma I swear! Please don't teleport me! I don't want to lose my limbs!" This was a legitimate concern in teleportation magic.

Kuroko then turned to Uiharu and released a vicious dark aura, "Is that all, you wouldn't happen to have been snooping around my desk, would you!?"

Trembling in fear Uiharu answered, "N-No! I swear Shirai we would never snoop around in your desk."

Kuroko released her grip on both the girls and released an aura of pleasantness, "Good then we won't have any problems," She then proceeded to take the folder and documents out of the traumatized girls' hands and calmly strutted over to her desk.

After finally regaining her composure Uiharu turned to Kuroko, "Shirai, do you know why Kamijou-san has such a low SYSTEM grade?"

Kuroko looked up for a moment before answering, "As I told you before, it's because he's talentless."

Index then stood up and flailed her arms protesting what Kuroko said, "Nuh-uh! Touma has plenty of talent, he's the one who stopped the monster after all".

Uiharu nodded in agreement, "Yeah, why do you keep saying that about Kamijou-san! He has plenty of talent!"

Kuroko then pinched the bridge of her nose, "I don't mean it like that, I mean in the eyes of Academy City he's talentless."

"What'd you mean?"

Kuroko sighed, "Tell me Uiharu do you believe in Power Theory" {A theory that says any esper can obtain Level 5 if they train hard enough}

"Of course, I do"

"Well Kamijou isn't that lucky, he's an **Amethyst**"

Both Uiharu and Index tilted their heads, "Amethyst?"

Kuroko then sat straight and cupped her hands together, "That's the system Academy City uses to grade Gemstones, Diamonds are the highest while amethyst is the lowest."

"W-Well that doesn't mean that Kamijou-san can't be a Diamond one day." Uiharu rebutted.

Kuroko shook her head, "No Uiharu, it means he can never become a Diamond or anything above that what he currently is."

Uiharu looked visibly shocked, "W-What are you talking about Shirai?"

Kuroko sighed knowing the fate of Touma. "It means Kamijou can never become more than he already is. Gemstones are born with their powers, so they're stuck with them for their entire lives no matter what they are, whether they be weak or strong, and no matter how much Gemstones trains they'll never be any stronger. It's like their name says, they're set in stone."

Uiharu covered her mouth in pure shock. "So, no matter how much he trains, it's pointless."

Kuroko nodded, "I don't envy him that's for sure, I mean people come to Academy city to try to get powers, but being born with them and then being called worthless no matter how much you try, is something even I can sympathize with."

Index eyes widen in surprise, "Wait is Touma one of the Talented ones!?"

Uiharu and Kuroko both turned to her, "I guess you could call him that, yeah".

Index then smiled, "Oh wow! I never saw one of the Talented ones before! Touma is so special!"

"Index what are you talking about?"

Index was bursting with excitement, "The talented ones were the precursors of all Magic and Science in the world, it's because of them that we exist today".

Uiharu tilted her head confused, "Magic?"

Index gleefully nodded. "I can't believe Touma's one of them, imagine being one of the rare people in the world being talented. I mean anyone can learn magic, but it's only by chance that you can become one of the Talented ones. I think you have a better chance of being born a Saint."

"Uhhhh?"

The door to the Judgement Office then flew open and in walked no other than their resident Electromaster.

"Hey, guys what's up."

Seeing Mikoto walk-in Kuroko leaped at her from her desk at her, "Onee-sama!"

***ZAP***

Now finished barbecuing Kuroko to the floor, Mikoto turned to Index. "How was your day Index?"

Index then tugged on Mikoto's arm, "Mikoto did you know that Touma was one of the Talented ones!"

"Huh? Do you mean Gemstone? Yeah, why?"

Still convulsing on the floor Kuroko looked up at Mikoto, "Onee-sama, how are you here? I thought the Dorm Manager made you clean the entire pool by yourself."

Mikoto smiled at her, "Your classmates Awatsuki and Wannai helped me" Mikoto the reached into her school bag and pulled out a gift bag and handed it to Kuroko. "Happy one-month anniversary roommate."

Kuroko still simmering on the ground cried tears of joy, "I knew there was some good left in this cold world."

"Anyways, Index I was thinking we could do your audition today before we go visit the idiot in the hospital."

"Okay, but how do you know Touma's in the hospital?"

Mikoto blushed for a moment, "I mean I called this morning to make sure he actually went, I mean knowing him he'd probably just try to avoid the hospital because of the bill." Mikoto then turned to Uiharu, "If your free Uiharu you can join us, I'll buy us desserts at 326 Ice cream when we're all done"!

With sparkles in her eyes, Uiharu nodded. "Yes!"

Slowly getting up from the ground Kuroko began to protest, "Wait, what about me?"

As all of them began walking out of the Judgement Office, Uiharu turned to her a gave a slight grin. "I think you still have some paperwork to do Shirai." She then pointed at the mountain of papers that were on her desk.

Once she closed the door, Kuroko went into the depths of despair,

"What did Kamijou call it again, that's right SUCH MISFORTUNE!"

* * *

**Part 3**

**Touma's Dorm**

"Achoo!"

"Bless you, my Prince."

"Thanks, so did you like it?" Touma asked, but he already knew the answer since she was pretty vocal about how much she liked it.

Misaki grinned like a child, "No... I Loved it! You really have leveled up your cooking ability haven't you Touma."

Touma rubbed the back of his head embarrassed. "Yeah, I mean my teacher even said if I really wanted to, I could probably make it into the finals at the cooking contest their hosting in District 9"

Misaki nodded. "I think you could win Touma you should enter."

"I don't know, I mean what if something goes wrong."

Misaki waved her finger disapprovingly at Touma, "You'll never know if you don't try, besides the worst thing to happen you lose and gain more experience from it."

"I guess you're right."

"I know I am"

As Touma began washing the dishes he felt Misaki rub up next to him, "Here let me help you with that."

"What's this? The Golden girl actually helping me clean-up for once?"

Misaki pouted, "I've helped you clean up plenty of times before, it's just you just came back from the hospital and I don't want to strain you any more than I already have."

"Hehe, no it's fine I'm just messing with you, Thanks though."

Once they finished cleaning up their mess Touma and Misaki sat on his bed and started to talk.

"Touma I want you to promise me that you really have everything handled"

Touma looked up and sighed, "I can't because I really don't, in reality, it's only because of my friends that I was able to make it this far, but I can promise you that if I ever do need help that I'll come to you first."

Misaki then leaned her head on Touma's shoulder, "That's all I ask." After staying like that for a few minutes Misaki finally got up. "Well my Prince I must be off, as much as I would love to spend every minute of the day with you, I have to help plan the Tokiwadai Midsummer Festival."

Touma smiled. It wasn't that long ago that Misaki wouldn't leave his side ever, but Touma knew the real reason she always so close to him. She was scared that something was going to happen to him like it did last year. It was only recently that Touma got her to smile again and not worry about him constantly, so he was happy that she was doing her own thing.

Misaki then kissed Touma and headed towards the exit, "Bye my Prince …oh before I forget I left a new phone for you by your bed. I couldn't find any of the cheap brands you usually buy, so I just got a regular one, is that alright?"

Touma nodded, "Yeah it's fine, I'll call you later."

Now alone in his dorm Touma had to make a call to Mikoto and tell her about Index's incoming sickness. He didn't know how she would take it and would've rather told her face to face but the faster she knew the better.

***RING RING***

* * *

**Park**

"Okay action."

"Hey…." Index started to inch her way out of the camera's sight.

"Cut!" Uiharu yelled.

"Index you have to stay inside the camera's sights if you want this to work," Mikoto advised.

Index then looked down at the ground, "I know it's just I really don't like camera's they-"

"Steal your lifespan I know, but do you honestly think I'm unlucky enough to actually buy that camera, I mean I'm not Kamijou you know."

Index giggled, "I know."

Uiharu now wearing a baseball cap that was adorned with flowers approached Index, "Come on stardom awaits for no woman'" she then pointed her at her with her clipboard, "Not even a Sister."

Mikoto then chuckled nervously, "Uiharu don't you think you're taking this a little too serious,"

With fire burning in her eyes she turned to Mikoto, "Nonsense, were in it to win it" She then grabbed Index by the shoulders, "I'm gonna do everything within my power to make you a star Index we'll show everybody that dreams do come true."

Index then started sweating nervously, "O-Okay." She then turned to Mikoto and mouthed 'help'

***Ring Ring***

Before any other action could be taken Mikoto got a call on her Cellphone. "Sorry gotta take this, have fun!" She then scampered away leaving Index alone with the crazed Flower Girl.

"Phew, thanks for calling you got me out of a really tight spot, what's up?"

"Hey, I was just calling to check up on you guys."

"We're fine unless you count Uiharu projecting her dreams of being a star onto Index a problem."

"... I'm not even gonna pretend I understand what you're talking about, but there's something important I gotta tell you."

"What is it?"

Touma then recounted the events of what happened last night and what Kanzaki told him about Index and her History and her upcoming illness.

Mikoto had to sit down after hearing the part about where Index was gonna die.

"Mikoto are you still there?"

It took a while for Mikoto to finally work up the nerve to respond. "...Yeah, it's just…."

Touma sighed, "I know I couldn't believe when I heard it too, have you noticed Index acting strange recently?"

"No! Although yesterday she was complaining about having a headache, I thought that she was just making it up because she wanted me to buy her more food."

"Hehe, yeah that does sound like something she would do, so what are we gonna do?"

" I don't know, We could always try using your hand, I mean it worked on the AIM burst so maybe it'll work on this."

"I don't think it's that simple, I mean I'm not a hundred percent sure but I know I touched Index with my right hand before."

"S-Should we tell Index?"

"... No".

"Kamijou."

"Look It won't do us any good if we put any more stress on Index as it is. Besides I'm pretty sure Stiyl or Kanzaki would've fixed Index by now if it was that simple"

"But lying to her, that just feels wrong."

"I know, and we'll tell her but can't we just give her one more day before we do. I mean is that so wrong?"

Mikoto leaned back on the bench, "I guess you're right, but after today we both tell her she has a right to know."

"Totally"

"From what it sounds like, I think Index has a brain fever or whatever magical equivalent they have to that."

"So, what? We just give her a bunch of antivirals and hope one of them works?"

"No of course not! Though I'm thinking we should take her to a hospital, I think I know a doctor who can help us out".

"Really, who?"

Mikoto then scratched her head, "I don't remember his name but I know he looks like a Gekota."

"Wait are you talking about Heaven Canceler?"

"You know him?"

"Yeah he's my doctor, yeah I think he might help us out, good idea Mikoto."

"Yeah well, we're not out of the woods yet."

"I know, by the way, they fixed my dorm."

"That's good, I was wondering when you'd stop squatting with your Teacher."

"Yeah but I think I'm gonna stay at Komoe-sensei place until we figure all this out. I don't want my neighbors seeing me lead a stray nun into my house."

"Haha, but that's how all the best rumors start, I mean there's one about me where I have an army of clones based on my DNA, known as the sisters that were all created in some secret laboratory."

"Wow that sounds really rough, but how about we talk about reality here for a second."

"Tch, don't blow off everything I say!"

"I'm not Jeez, look all I want to do now is figure out a way to help Index that's all, we can deal with your clones some other time."

"Fine, by the way, Index has been asking for you saying something about you being one of the Talented ones."

"Talented ones?"

"I don't know, I think she means Gemstone, but either way she seems pretty excited to meet you again."

"Well come drop her off at Komoe-sensei's apartment when you're done I'm headed there right now anyway."

"Okay we'll head over there once we're done, I gotta go I think Uiharu's taking this whole audition thing a bit to serious, gotta go bye."

"Audition?"

* * *

**Part 4**

**Gemstone Research Facility**

"For the last time Sogiita, you're not allowed to just punch holes in the building just because you want to test your 'Guts'. Please tell me you understand" Kumokawa asked knowing full well that all she was doing was wasting her own breath.

"Got it," Sogiita said as he nodded not absorbing a single word she was saying.

"Good enough for me," Kumokawa sighed out giving up all hope she ever had of having an easy day at work.

"By the way, I've been meaning to ask you if you know anything Kamijou-sama?"

Kumokawa raised her eyebrow slightly, "You want to know more about, Kamijou?"

"Yeah! I mean the guy beat that monster in one hit! He's got to be overflowing with Guts. I didn't get to spar against him the last time I met him because that weird judgment lady took me away."

Kumokawa started to twitch, "That judgment lady took you away because you got arrested."

"Nuh-uh! She only led me to a building then got a phone call and let me right go."

"That's because I…...Nevermind, in any case, I'm not allowed to give you any personal information about a fellow Gemstone, it could cause a big problem."

Sogiita tilted his head confused, "Problem? What kind of problem?"

Kumokawa sighed, "Not all Gemstones are created equally, I'm able to publicly share that you're a Gemstone because you're more than capable of defending yourself from people who don't like the fact that Gemstones never had to go through the Power Curriculum Program."

"But Kamijou-san has more than enough guts to beat up these petty thugs!"

"No." Besides the biggest danger to him right now is you, moron.

"Oh, come on!"

"Ugh, for the last time n-" _Wait a minute this might actually be beneficial for Kamijou, having someone as powerful as this moron stay by his side should keep him out of trouble, or at least help him get out of any_. "You know what fine."

"Really! I knew you would see the-"

Kumokawa then raised a finger to stop him, "On one condition."

"What's that?"

She then narrowed her eyes at the boy, "No fighting, if you want to test out your skills that's fine but do it in a controlled environment like here. Having you pick a fight on him on the streets would just cause unnecessary complications, such as you hurting Kamijou."

"Okay! But wait I've never actually seen Kamijou-sama come here before."

Kumokawa nodded, "Yep if wanna test your abilities you're gonna have convince Kamijou to come here," She then narrowed her eyes at him while releasing a powerful dark aura, "And no fighting."

Ignoring that display of her true colors, Sogiita was excited to finally get the chance to spar with Touma, "Got it! You can count on me to get Kamijou-sama here in no time." he then moved at nearly the speed of sound towards the exit before coming to a screeching halt.

"You forgot that I didn't actually tell you anything about Kamijou didn't you."

With a childlike smile he turned around, "Yeah, I guess I got a little too excited."

She then pinched the bridge of her nose, "Give me a second to pull up Kamijou's records," Kumokawa then started to log into her computer and quickly pulled up Touma's file.

Reading down the file she saw a recent report of him being admitted to the hospital, it wasn't that surprising to her until she read that he wasn't just admitted for a broken arm.

"Give me a second" Kumokawa then got up from her chair and started to pull out her phone.

"Uhh, is there a problem?"

"No, but there's about to be one."

* * *

**Komoe-sensei's apartment**

"I can't believe you didn't tell me you were one of the talented ones Touma!" Index said in an attempt to scold her inept caretaker.

"For the last time Index, this first time I've ever actually heard that term used!"

Index then noticed all the bandages on Touma, "Why do have so many bandages for just a broken arm?"

Both Mikoto and Touma gulped, "W-Well you see, because of my luck I got hurt on the way back to the hospital."

Index then narrowed her eyes at him, "Touma! You have to be more careful than that you could've got hurt badly."

Touma gave off a small chuckle, "Don't worry, I already got the lecture, by the way, Index I heard you were doing an audition?"

Index's eyes then started to sparkle with elation, "Yeah! Mikoto and Flower hair both helped me I think I'm gonna win. Can you picture it, Touma? Me in the next Magical Powered Kanamin Movie".

Touma then turned to Mikoto who just shrugged.

"Well don't let stardom get to your head I guess," Touma said sarcastically, "You already have enough of an ego as it is."

"What! Touma I'll have you know that I'm very humble! Everyone says so!"

"Yeah because that's what humble people do, brag about how humble they are, sorry for the misunderstanding…... Index what are you doing? No no no, please…...SUCH MISFORTUNE!"

* * *

**One Mauling later.**

"Wow, I think she got you like 5 times there," Mikoto said while bandaging up Touma.

"Yeah, thanks a lot for helping! It was super helpful how you just stood there and watched."

Mikoto shrugged. "It's not my fault you don't know when to watch your mouth, and I'm not about to go anywhere near her when she opens up her mouth. I've seen her wolf down burgers like they were tic tacs before."

"Fine," He then turned to the now sleeping Index, "So what's the plan for tomorrow?"

"Hmm, I guess for now I'll research as much as I can about this mysterious magical brain fever, it might be a more advanced version of Encephalitis."

"Okay I'll guess I'll stay here and watch Index in case she gets sick"

Right before Mikoto left she turned to Touma, "Are you sure you're okay, I mean from the way you described that fight…"

Touma nodded, "Yeah I'm good, at least now we don't have to constantly look over our shoulders in case of any incoming magicians."

"Didn't that Saint tell you that she'd come back if we couldn't find a way to save Index?"

Touma then clenched his fist, "We'll find a way, I'm sure of it, for now, let's get some rest, Tomorrow's problems are Tomorrow's Kamijou's problem after all."

"Hehe, alright I'll see you Tomorrow don't tell Index until I get here"

"Got it, Bye."

After Touma closed the door he made his way to his futon and laid there looking at the ceiling for hours until he could fall asleep, tomorrow they would work on finding Index a cure to her Illness.

* * *

**Author's Notes**

The Rankings for Gemstones is as follows

**Diamond= Level 5**

**Emerald=Level 4**

**Sapphire=Level 3**

**Rubies=Level 2**

**Amethyst= Level 1**

There are no level 0 equivalents to Gemstones since you're either born one or not, however, you can have a low enough ranking as a Level 1 Gemstone to match a Level 0.

The reason why Misaki was able to use Mental Out on Accelerator was that Touma erased a section on his reflection and then used absorbed enough of his AIM field to disrupt it for a short amount of time. It's similar to what Takitsubo did to Kakine except for a lot less effective.

**Fun Facts**

Touma's cooking skills are at the Level of Sōma Yukihira at the end of season 3

Touma has never actually cooked a proper meal for Index or Mikoto

Touma offered to cook for them when he was staying at Komoe-sensei's apartment but Komoe-sensei refused, knowing that once Touma left she would be stuck with her old bland food.


	18. Chapter 18 Our Baneful Battles

**Hey guys thanks for reading a Certain Scientific Counter. Also I'd like to thank my Beta-reader Graesok for helping me edit this. Without further ado Q&A.**

**Ultra Instinct Shaggy- Thank you for the compliment…..**

**IllusionBreaker- I'll try my best. Thank you.**

**Anti-Mage 29-No problem. Also I can't wait to write that fight. Harem you say….**

**Fortitude501- To be fair to Kuroko, most important people do that….Although most of them don't also harras that said person so….Anyways nice recap! And I figured that the Gemstones had to had a similar ranking since Academy City always referred to them a natural Diamonds. ANd for Seria….**

**BlueJack22- His skills far surpass those of the elite ten. Also the reason it seems shorter was because I wrote this while I had finals.**

**Awardedall- Thank you for the compliment.**

**Savior555- WORLD BOSS part 2 THE BIRI BIRI. Also thanks I tried to stay as true to character as I could as well as with the power system, Touma was always a good cook naturally so it only made sense that when he actually took a proper course in it he'd flourish. Kumokawa is always pissed when she can't see her Kohai. And Komoe-sensei has eaten Touma's cooking before so she basically 'flowers for algernon' her taste buds. And here you go.**

**Chris- Touma is Lucky…..wait a minute that's not right. And Accel will return…..eventually. Yes Touma has nearly maxed out his Level for cooking, so it's like a blessing and a curse for Misaki. And how you say Mikoto will react…...oh boy. And as for Index, her ego will only continue to grow as her stardom does as well. And Thank you.**

**Chris- Yeah some things never change. Slice of life moments are one of them.**

**Nameless- In another arc, and I already have an idea for that :)**

**Ryder- It has and it will.**

**Rajarshi Sarkar- I know but theses types of chapters are necessary to show context for what's to come so it doesn't look like I'm pulling things from thin air. And the story continues.**

**Halo Star Wars X-over fan- I put Mikoto in the character list because she was added to main cast of characters, I'm sorry if it 'mislead' you but if you wanted to find a fic where there together there's a filter where you can search for it.**

**Savior555- Thanks. And yeah it should've been common sense since there is a setting where you can put characters as couples.**

**Our Baneful Battles**

**July 26**

***RING RING RING RING RING RING***

"!?"

"Hello?"

"Wake up idiot! It's almost 12! Where the hell have you been!?"

Touma quickly got up from his bed in a panic realizing that he wasted half the day just sleeping, "What the hell! Why didn't anyone wake me!"

"We did! You said and I quote, 'Just 5 more minutes'"

"And you believed me!?"

"YES! Like an idiot, I believed you when you said it!"

Touma then tried his best to recall the events of earlier this morning, he could vaguely remember anything about that morning.

_'Wait, was I sleep drunk?'_ {feeling of confusion or amnesia we sometimes experience after suddenly waking up occurs in the cases where your body hasn't had the time to wake up properly. This usually happens when the time spent asleep is shorter than what it should be.}

"Oh yeah, sorry about that."

"Tch! What happened to this being today's Kamijou's problem Huh!."

"Pfft! That was past Kamijou, I hate that guy he has no sense of responsibility always passing off his problems to me, you shouldn't trust a thing he says."

"..."

"..."

"Was that supposed to be a joke?"

"...Nevermind what happened to Index, did you take her to the doctor to get checked out."

"We need to talk."

* * *

**A Certain Hospital**

**1 hour ago**

"Mikoto why'd you let Touma sleep more I thought you said we all had to go?" The young silvery haired nun asked.

Mikoto blushed remembering trying to wake up Touma only to have him beg her to have 5 more minutes of sleep "Uhh well you see... Ahem...he just came back from the hospital and needed some more rest. Besides we don't really need him until after."

"Okay, why are we at the hospital again?"

"Oh I'm here to find a doctor, do you remember the one that looked like a Gekota?"

Index nodded, "Yeah, but why are we looking for a doctor?"

"Umm well, didn't you say before that you were having headaches?"

"Mikoto I don't need to see a doctor just because of a headache, besides that was yesterday, and I feel fine."

"Better to be safe than sorry, come on let's get going."

Mikoto and Index then ventured inside the hospital going directly where Heaven Cancelers office was, but once they went there they found it was empty. The two then Scoured the entire hospital before deciding to ask the staff where he was.

"What do you mean he left!?" Mikoto all but screamed at the poor nurse.

"I-I-I'm sorry. It's just that the doctor got a call yesterday and left early this morning."

Index then held back Mikoto in fear of her lashing out, "M-Mikoto it's okay I don't need to see a doctor. I'm really alright."

"Tch, I'm Sorry but do you know when he'll be back?"

"Yes, he said he'd be back midday tomorrow."

Mikoto sighed, "Alright, thanks anyway," Mikoto and Index then made their way outside and walked a few blocks until Mikoto realized that Index was looking side to side. "What's wrong?"

"I feel the flow of magic is being drawn together nearby, its attribute is earth," Index then ran across the street.

"Wait, Index don't run!" Mikoto started to make her way towards Index when she heard a familiar voice call out to her.

"Don't worry there just runes. Runes to keep people away if you couldn't already tell." Mikoto spun around and saw Stiyl bandaged up.

Mikoto immediately started sparking remembering what Touma told her earlier, "What the hell do you want!?"

"Hmph, would you really attack someone who was already injured?"

***ZAAP***

Mikoto's electrical spear was only 1 inch off from hitting its mark and as a result, it burned the cigarette that he was smoking, "Does that answer your question," Mikoto then stared down the fire magician, "What do you want?"

Stiyl looked more annoyed at the situation than scared as he pulled out another cigarette, "I wanna talk."

"Like you talked to Kamijou!? You're lucky I don't strike you down on the spot after what you tried to do to him!"

"And, yet I'm still here, neither of you has any idea how to save Index do you?"

Mikoto was taken aback by this. It was true that they had just lost their best option to save Index and currently had no other leads.

Stiyl immediately noticed the hesitation in her eyes, "As I thought."

"What do you want!?"

Stiyl then took out the cigarette that he was currently smoking, "I have no real issue with the boy looking into this matter, but you, on the other hand, are a different story altogether."

"What's that supposed to mean."

He then began to glare at her, "The magic and science side had been at peace for some time now, and while hostilities might remain they always come to an understanding. One such understanding that they came to was that neither side would interfere in the business of the other."

"!?"

"So what, you're telling me to get lost?"

"To put it bluntly yes."

***ZAP***

The sound of electricity buzzing filled the sky as Stiyl found himself on the ground twitching uncontrollably.

"SCREW THAT! I don't care about any damn side, if my friend's in danger I'll help them no matter what!"

Picking himself off the ground, Stiyl was neither angry nor upset in truth. If he was in the same position as her, he would've done the same thing. He was not, however, and because of that, he had to keep on going on the path that will most likely save Index.

"Tell me esper do you care more about your pride than you do about that girl's safety?"

"!?"

"What the hell is that supposed to mean? Of course, I care more about Index's safety than I do about my Pride!"

Stiyl then shot her a glare that could pierce through anyone's defense's, "Then what would you do if you can't save Index in time? Would you be willing to erase her memories then, or would you rather her die?"

Mikoto faltered at these words, that was the last thing she wanted to think about.

"What happened? Did I say something wrong esper or did you finally realize what it truly means to take care of that girl?"

Mikoto was silent.

Stiyl went in for one last blow like stabbing a sword into the heart of someone who was already down. He pulled out a necklace with a small cross on it from his trench coat pocket. "This tool is needed to destroy her memories."

He then began to walk towards Mikoto which caused her to step back. There was no real reason as to why she did, she was in the position of power after all. If she wanted to, she could've stuck him down where he stood.

Now that he was directly in front of Mikoto he waved the necklace in front of her swaying it back and forth in front of her face, "If you were to take it from me and give it to that boy it would become powerless just like any other magic that he comes in contact with."

Mikoto stood there motionless staring at the cross, she then snapped out of it when she noticed he dropped it into her hands.

"But will you esper?"

Mikoto froze in place as she felt the weight of that necklace in her hand.

"When that girl begins to feel sick and is dying in front of your eyes can you honestly tell me that you'd take this from her!?"

Mikoto looked down at her hand to see the necklace. It was no more than a couple of grams of silver and gold, yet it somehow managed to make her stop.

"Why? Why are you giving me this?" Mikoto asked barely managing to stop herself from shaking.

Stiyl simply stared at her, "Because chances are you know as well as I, the chances of you actually managing to find a cure for that girl in time."

"What are you talking about?"

"How much do you really know about that friend of yours?"

"Huh? I know enough about him to know that I trust him a whole hell of a lot more than I do you!?"

"Did you know that he lost his memories?"

"!?"

Mikoto was stunned. She didn't know much about Touma but, what she did know was that he was a good person that would do anything to help someone else.

"I'll take that as a no." Stiyl then took out another cigarette but did not light, simply staring at it, "You know when Kanzaki told me how it felt like to have your memories taken away from you I was honestly surprised," Mikoto watched as he dropped his cigarette on the floor. "What we did to her had to be done in order to save her life, but even so that didn't make so that I felt any less for her pain."

"Then why are you doing this!? If you know it's hurting her why would you keep going along with it?"

Stiyl stood there silent for a moment simply staring at the sky, "To save her," He then looked Mikoto with a face neither of pity nor contempt but rather one of understanding, "You may think of me as a villain and I won't protest to that but everything we did was to save her. That is why we act the way we do so when we eventually have to erase her memories it would be easier for her."

Mikoto stood there silent.

"That's why I'm giving you this and not the boy, you can see the reality of the situation while he can't. He's unable to detach his situation from hers and feels as though if he can save her that he can justify to himself that he isn't broken."

Mikoto's eyes shot open as she snapped back into reality, "What?"

"I was able to decipher that much from what Kanzaki told me. If I were to give this to him, he would probably destroy without a second thought. That's why I'm giving this to you and why I'm letting you stay, for the time being, you'll act as his tether to reality and keep him in check."

"What!? But why!?"

"Even if we tried to attack you again, due to the amount of damage me and Kanzaki sustained from our previous fight we would be unable to stop you. We barely have enough strength remaining as it is to perform the ceremony necessary to save the girl. That's why you have to be the one to hold onto that tool."

"So, you're giving me this because you don't trust Kamijou to not try to take this, you guys."

He then let out a sigh, "Precisely," He then turned around and started to walk away, "If you truly care about that girl's well-being you'll know what to do." And like that he was gone.

Mikoto gritted her teeth.

"Dammit!"

* * *

**Current Time**

"About what?" Touma asked.

Mikoto let out a sigh "Look we can talk about it when I get there with Index. There's something I need to show you."

Mikoto then hung up the phone.

_'Huh? What the hell is that supposed to mean?'_

After getting dressed Touma started to pull out various books from the shelves of Komoe-sensei's apartment, mainly one that had to deal with the human brain.

Whatever illness Index had stemmed from her brain that was clear enough, whether it had something to do with memory was another thing altogether but with that in mind, he was able to find a way to buy himself more time if push came to shove.

He would have to put her in a medically induced coma.

This was the last thing that he wanted, but he had to think realistically. If they couldn't find a cure in time or if they did and it took them to long to get it, this would be the best option for her.

Since her illness had symptoms of Brain swelling putting her in a coma would stop her brain from swelling up and killing her.

Once he figured all of that out he decided to make calls to various research facilities.

Academy City had more than 1000 research facilities both large and small, but a first-year student like Kamijou had no connections with any of them. So, he decided to call someone who did, Misaki.

He called the number and Misaki answered after the third ring she answered.

"Hello Touma, what is it, are you okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine, I'm just calling to see if you knew of any research facilities that had to do with Mind Hound related things."

"Hmm? Well of course I do but why do you…... Is this about that person you're helping?"

"Yeah,"

Misaki sighed, "Look, Touma, I'm not trying to practice my nagging ability, but are you sure you don't need my help. From what you're asking me it looks like your friend has some sort of brain-related illness and if that's the case I might be able to help."

He then let those words sink in. She might be right out of everyone in Academy City she would have the best chance to save Index. "Misaki it's-"

He was then interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Touma?"

"I gotta go, but can you please text me the numbers of the research facilities."

"Alright, stay safe."

He then got up from the floor and started making his way to the door.

He had no idea what Mikoto wanted to talk to him about or what she wanted to show him.

But he didn't have to worry about that since she wasn't the one at the door.

There she stood the female magician that he defeated, covered in bandages, Kanzaki Kaori.

* * *

**Part 2**

**A Certain Park**

After being scolded by Mikoto for running off, Index tried to be on her best behavior. She didn't like being scolded by her, but she knew that it wasn't unwarranted, she did run off and all she had to show for it was a lousy rune card that immediately burned to a crisp when she touched it.

Trailing behind Mikoto Index looked around the park that they were in. This wasn't the first time she came to this park with Mikoto, the last time she came here was when they found Saten using her new powers after she'd used Level Upper.

"How's Ruiko?"

"Huh? Saten, she's fine they let her go home already, although I think they made her and everyone else who took Level Upper has to takes a class or something takes Supplementary classes."

"Really, wait a minute, when was the last time Touma actually went to his Supplementary classes?"

Mikoto stopped in her tracks as she realized that he had missed his class today. "That Idiot."

Mikoto shook her head in disapproval, while Index caught on. "Honestly, I can see why Touma has such low grades now, he never goes to class or does the homework."

Mikoto giggled, "Yeah," She then started to walk forward and turned her head around to see Index, "Hey are you sure you're feeling alright?"

Index let out a heavy sigh, "Yes Mikoto, for the last time I'm fine, why do you keep asking me that?"

"No reason, just making sure since a couple of days ago you were bedridden." Unlike Touma, Mikoto did much better under pressure when lying.

"Oh yeah," Index then puffed out her chest proudly, "You don't need to worry about me I'm as healthy as can be."

Mikoto then let out a soft smile, "Yeah, just don't push yourself too hard okay."

Index nodded.

As the two continued their way through the park they stumbled upon something they never thought they would see.

The same Moron from the AIM Burst Incident with Kuroko.

She honestly had no idea what the two were talking about, from what she remembered about him, he was strong but not that bright.

"Uhh what's going on here?" Mikoto asked.

"Onee-sama! You're here" Kuroko exclaimed in joy.

"Oh it's the electric chick! What's up?" Sogiita said nonchalantly completely forgetting what he was doing.

"Hey," Mikoto then turned to Kuroko, "So what happened?"

Kuroko let out a deep sigh, "I caught him bullying a couple of students earlier."

Mikoto and Index gasped, "Really?"

"Pfft, Hell no! All I did was get guts into him!"

Kuroko then shot him a glare, "By destroying an alleyway and abusing some thugs."

Sogiita nodded, "No one said the path to redemption was easy."

Every word this boy spoke made Kuroko want to hit him more and more.

"I'm going to arrest you."

Ignoring this he turned to Mikoto, "Oi Electric chick, have you seen Kamijou-sama recently?"

Index stared at him suspiciously, "Why are you looking for Touma?"

"Oh I'm supposed to bring him in for-" Sogiita then went rummaging in his pocket looking for the note that Kumokawa gave him, "Misconduct and Failure to report to a welfare check, whatever that means,"

"Huh!? What're you talking about?"

Out of nowhere from behind the vending machine in the background a twin-ponytailed girl who was slightly shorter than Mikoto appeared. "So we finally meet Tokiwadai Onee-san."

"EH!?"

For a moment everyone stopped what they were doing and just stared at her. The girl looked to be like she was in elementary school. She had shiny blond hair and had a red kiddy school bag, but most importantly she had a Judgement armband.

In Academy City, "Judgment" was formed by student volunteers from all schools, that included Elementary schools, Mikoto knew this because Kuroko joined when she was still in grade school.

Kuroko was the first one to break the silence, "Excuse me, who are you supposed to be?"

The mysterious twin-ponytailed girl in front of her slowly let out a smile, "My name's Kihara Nayuta and I'm a member of Judgement's 49th Branch Office."

"When did you get here?" Sogiita asked.

"I just got here, Kumokawa-senpai asked me to come and trail you in case anything like-," She then pointed at the now destroyed alleyway in the distance, "That happens when you went to pick up Kamijou-san."

Kuroko then started walking towards the younger Judgement officer with suspicion in her eyes, "That doesn't sound like an official Judgement assignment."

Nayuta then raised her finger, "Actually senpai it is," She then went into her school bag and pulled out some documents and handed it to Kuroko.

It took Kuroko a minute to read through all the documents, it basically outlined that she would help the Gemstone Facility find Kamijou Touma in order to bring him in for a welfare check.

"How'd you get this so fast? And why wasn't the 177th branch notified?" Normally it would take days for something like this to be approved but somehow she managed to get these approved in less than a day.

Nayuta let out a small smirk, "Kumokawa-senpai got them approved and it was collectively decided that the 177th branch Office had enough going on after the Level Upper fiasco to help out in this case, so they instead asked other branches to help out. To be honest, I wasn't the only one who applied, apparently somebody from the 105th Branch Office named Tobi Yumi also asked to help out." She then turned to Mikoto and narrowed her eyes at her.

Index then leaned in and whispered in a low tone so only Mikoto could hear, "Do you know her?"

Matching her tone she responded, "Nope."

Nayuta then turned to Kuroko, "In any case, it's my job and by extension yours to help me find Kamijou-san"

As much as Kuroko hated to admit it she was right, as a member of Judgement she had to.

Nayuta then turned to Mikoto, "So Onee-san, do you know where Kamijou-san is?"

Mikoto tilted her head and gave an earnest smile, "No idea, right Index."

"Y-Yeah no idea" She didn't sound very convincing.

Everyone there save for Sogiita knew that Index was lying.

"Awww man, that's too bad, thanks anyway." Sogiita then started to walk away until Nayuta stopped her.

"Hold on now, Index-san you wouldn't be lying to us, right."

"O-Of course not!"

"Good so you won't mind us tagging along to wherever you're going."

Index then turned to Mikoto with a worried expression on her face.

* * *

**Komoe-sensei's Apartment**

"Kanzaki? What are you doing here?"

Without missing a beat Kanzaki stepped into the room and immediately began scanning it, "I see Index isn't here with you. That's good." Her voice sounded more relieved or anything.

"Yeah, she's out with Mikoto right now. Can I ask why you're here?"

"I've come to see if you really have a plan to save Index, or if you're just making your final useless struggle a good one."

From the sound of her voice, it seemed as though she was a bit more than hesitant leaving everything up to Touma.

"Tch! I told you before didn't I, I will save Index no matter what."

Even covered in bandages, Kanzaki let out an air of intimidation that told Touma that if he said something that she didn't like, he was as good as dead, "Prove it."

Those words cut a majority of Touma's confidence right from under him.

"Okay." Touma then went over to collect the various textbooks that he had lying about the apartment and went to present them to Kanzaki, "Well before, you guys always tried to fix Index with the magic side right?"

Kanzaki nodded, "It's true, both I and Stiyl used every resource we had available to us to help fix Index, but in the end, the church had a bias against what grimoires she was allowed to memorize. For instance, she was not allowed to memorize any grimoires that dealt with manipulating memories."

"!?"

There went another one of Touma's ideas. He knew it was a long shot but he still held out hope.

"Does that truly surprise you? Did you honestly think that the church would leave such a security risk open?"

"O-Of course not, anyways like I was saying you tried it your way in the past so why not let the Science side try to save Index?"

Touma really didn't know how much about Science she knew, so he was prepared to explain it to her as best as his first-year education let him.

"... There was a time when I thought the same thing."

"What!?"

"I understand the feeling of trying to grasp at straws. I too felt that way when I was with Index on her last days. But it just feels wrong handing her over to science."

"B-But"

"I'm not ignorant enough to deny that you people can do things that we cannot, but from my perspective, all that you would be doing would be filling her up with some unknown drug shortening her life. I don't want to see her violated like that."

"Look how do you know that when you never even tried!"

She simply stood there looking at him while he flipped through pages of a textbook.

"Propofol, pentobarbital, and thiopental"

"Thio-what?"

"Those are the drugs that are commonly used to help treat people with brain swelling and it temporarily stops the collection and creation of any new memories."

Kanzaki froze.

The drugs when used, however, would force Index into a coma.

Touma left that part out, he was trying to win her over not trying to provoke her any further.

"Look I understand how you feel, but we both know it can't keep going on like this, year after year erasing Index's memories over and over again and for what? Just so she can live through another year of torture."

That one got to her.

"Was that how it was for you?"

"What!? Why are you asking that?"

Kanzaki's gaze then started to hone in on Touma's face, she could see that he was uncomfortable with the subject.

"Before when we were on the battlefield, you mentioned to me that you also lost your memories, I'm just making sure that's not affecting your judgment."

Touma didn't expect her to say that.

"Of course not!"

"So, if and when tomorrow hits midnight and you still haven't found a cure for Index, you would let us go on with the ceremony unimpeded?"

"That won't happen we-"

Touma then found himself pinned against the wall by Kanzaki.

"You keep speaking as though you're so sure of yourself, but what do you truly know!?"

It wasn't the fact that Kanzaki was pressing against his lungs that Touma couldn't respond, it was the fact that he knew that she was right.

"You keep on associating Index with your own situation, don't you!? Well it's not, she never had that luxury, the only reason I came here today was to make sure that you understood the situation."

Touma struggled to break free, even while covered in bandages and recovering she was still far stronger than him.

"When midnight hits Tomorrow, you will let us perform the ceremony."

Touma stayed silent as he continued struggling.

"Tch! What's with you!"

Kanzaki finally released him, and he fell onto the floor coughing.

"Why can't you just admit that-"

"You're strong."

"..."

"I want to ask you something. Why are you doing this?"

"What?"

"It's like you said before, right? You tried everything to save Index before, so why."

Kanzaki didn't know how to properly answer.

"It's because you're kinda like me, you just want to see her smile. You got this strong because you wanted to protect that smile, you kept going along with this because you wanted to protect her."

Touma then began to pick himself off the floor.

"I won't say it, because it's like I'm giving up on her…. I know that I'm not a god that can control everything and give everyone a happy ending….but even so it won't stop me from trying."

Touma then began to walk towards Kanzaki, "So, what's it gonna be Kanzaki? Are you still going to get in my way? Are you going to give up on trying to save her life?"

"We have a tried and true method of saving her life. I cannot trust in this untested gamble of yours. With our method, she can survive."

"Surviving isn't living."

"!?"

"I have no idea how she can keep on smiling knowing what I do now, but if she can keep on smiling than I won't give up, and I won't admit defeat!"

Kanzaki sighed.

"You truly are….Never mind, whatever you have planned for Index keep in mind that I will be watching," Kanzaki then made her way to the door, "By the way how is your friend doing?"

"He's alright for now, just resting."

"That's good, also don't try to run away."

"You don't have to worry about that, I'll never leave my friends behind."

And with that Kanzaki left. While Touma was left alone thinking about what he was going to do next.

* * *

**Part 3**

**A Certain Park**

Mikoto tried her best to try to lose Nayuta but every time she got close there she was again.

As they all walked through the park together Mikoto's curiosity got the better of her, and she started talking to the girl.

"Hey kid, what's so special about Kamijou anyway? I mean what's with all the fuss about him having to go through a wellness check, I mean even Level 5s don't have to do that."

"Hmph, Well Level 5 Onee-san, if you must know it's because he's so weak."

"Eh!? What are you talking about?"

Nayuta then began to talk with a condescending attitude, "Isn't it obvious, even among the other Gemstones Kamijou-san is statistically the weakest. Academy City has 4 Gemstones in total and among them, Kamijou-san is ranked the lowest, that includes espers too."

"What? No way? How that even possible?"

"Don't know, but then again I did try to research Kamijou's ability myself and found that it was less than successful. He's one of the very few Black boxes of Academy City"

"What're you talking about?"

Nayuta simply stared at Mikoto as if she was trying to get a read on her, "Tell me this, why do you want to know?"

Mikoto stumbled slightly "N-No reason really, just trying to make conversation that's all."

"Hmph"

While they were talking Sogiita was trying to remember where he met Nayuta before.

"Hey little kid, do I know you from somewhere?"

"Probably from the Gemstone Research facility"

Suddenly something clicked in Sogiita's mind.

"I remember now, I saw you at the 'Kihara Research Institute' when I used to go there! Wait did you dye your hair or something you used to have brown hair."

"!?"

"I remember how you used to talk about going to the Advanced Education Department, whatever happened to that?"

"Huh!?"

Mikoto wavered slightly as she remembered that name before from Kiyama-sensei but, not once in that vision did she see this girl.

"Wait, what, but, that school should have been—"

Nayuta then spun around and stared at Mikoto with hostile intent, "How do you know about that!? Did Kiyama-sensei tell you about it!?"

Mikoto was in shock, she never thought that she'd meet one of Kiyama-sensei's students so soon.

"Wait, that doesn't make any sense. If you were a part of that class then how are you-"

"I'm not a Child Error. I was just friends with Banri Onee-san."

Mikoto once again felt insecure about how to respond "I-I'm sorry about what happened to your-"

"Stop…. You were there when they stopped Kiyama-sensei right?"

The whole group only watched as the two had their conversation, none of them dared to enter since something like this was personal.

"Yeah"

Nayuta had a somber look painted on her face, "How'd it feel?"

"I don't understand?"

"You're one of the seven Level 5s that stands at the peak at what Academy City wants to accomplish, how did it feel to be able to stop her."

"Good? I don't know. I'm not even the one who stopped her, Kamijou was."

Nayuta glared at Mikoto's body as if she was envious. "We both know that's a lie, if you wanted to you could've stopped Kiyama-sensei with ease."

This was true, during the entire fight with Kiyama-sensei Mikoto held back because she didn't want to kill her.

"So let me ask you, 'Railgun' Onee-san..." From the way, Nayuta stared at Mikoto it was if she was a hunter staring at her prey. "How'd it feel?"

"!?"

"Let me tell you something the Kiharas are elites. But wouldn't it be meaningless if they can't surpass a Level 5?"

At that moment, Mikoto suddenly felt that something was swallowing her and found it harder to keep her powers in check, "What are you-?"

"I made a promise with Banri Onee-san and everyone else that'd we'd join Judgment, protect Academy City, and become Level 5s, it's still early but, I want to see the results of my experiments. I joined Judgment, so I could have a valid reason to fight people, however, I can't fight you unless I have one."

The atmosphere became tense as Nayuta removed her Judgement armband, "That's why I request a fight with you!"

"!?"

Kuroko immediately teleported in front of Mikoto, "What are you talking about! You're completely out of line, I'm gonna-" She then felt Mikoto's hand on her shoulder.

"It's alright Kuroko,"

Mikoto then saw the look of determination on Nayuta's face, it reminded her of how she looked when she would challenge Touma, she was trying to prove herself.

"I accept"

Hearing Mikoto's words, Kuroko placed both hands on her face and started swaying as though she was going to faint.

Sogiita then appeared in front of all of them "Oh, a duel? What you said is pretty gutsy kid, I like it, I call referee!"

* * *

**Battlefield**

The group then traveled to an abandoned field where the fight wouldn't disturb anyone. While they walked there Kuroko tried her best to try to talk Mikoto out of fighting Nayuta, but in the end, she couldn't. Index, Sogiita, and Kuroko could only watch from the sidelines as the two got on separate ends of the battlefield. Mikoto made her promise that she wouldn't interfere.

Kuroko looked visibly worried and pissed as she hated the idea of that little brat attacking Mikoto.

"Are you sure we shouldn't stop them, I mean with my Judgement clearance I should be able to-"

Sogiita stopped her by raising his hand, "Don't butt in, when a man wants to show off his Guts, it's only common courtesy to watch in silence," He then realized that Mikoto and Nayuta were girls. "Oh, but their girls, that's fine too... I guess."

Faced with hardship Index did the one thing that she knew how to do, pray.

"Oh lord who art in heaven howl thy name-"

For the fight, the two agreed that Sogiita should referee that way if anyone went too far he could step in.

Once Sogiita stood in the center of the ring he raised both of his hands, The Battlefield seemed to shake as he projected his voice across it "Show the results of your everyday training and guts in this fight! Now!" Time seemed to slow down for everyone as he began to lower his hands, "Let's get ready to RUMBLE!"

With that Sogiita leaped out of the battlefield and both fighters began their attacks.

* * *

**Nayuta Kihara**

The Life of Nayuta Kihara can be summed up in two words.

**'Guinea pig'.**

While the Kihara family was infamous for their research in Academy City, Nayuta followed a different path. She believed that Flawed items like child errors were useless and had no purpose in Academy City and only those who were special could help further science.

One day she met with a professor who had quite the authority even amongst the Kihara family and asked to be a test subject.

However, since she was still a child she didn't fully understand the weight of her request.

This didn't matter in the slightest to Kihara Gensei, he would gladly use others as his own test subjects and destroy them even if they were his own relatives and Nayuta was no different.

In the end, what she got was "the ability to 'see' and 'feel' the flow of AIM diffusion fields" but even this wasn't enough to make her feel special.

Even after all the sacrifices she made, even though she'd stayed strong when the experiments painted her body with unbearable agony, she was still not special.

There was another older girl who had a similar ability however, Nayuta's ability couldn't compare to hers, she was a candidate to become the next Level 5 while she was just...

In the end, Kihara Gensei disappeared and left her to pursue other projects.

Now alone and at the lowest point, she devoted her mind and body to science in the hopes of becoming special.

So she did what Kihara's did best and experiment, except now she would be the guinea pig to her own projects.

* * *

**Battlefield**

As soon as the battle started Mikoto started to collect all the iron sand in the area and formed them into the shape of spears and had them hover above the battlefield.

Each of the 23 spears acted as miniature Tesla coils that connected each of them with dazzling sparks of electricity.

With the laws of electromagnetic force behind them, Mikoto launched them as though she was a general ordering an air strike.

To Nayuta it seemed as though the entire sky was blocked off by them.

Even though any sane person would run away from this.

She ran forward.

_***BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!***_

Barely dogging in between the volleys Nayuta pressed forward as the surrounding became littered with craters.

From Mikoto's perspective, she was moving faster than any normal person should be able to. It was as if she was able to exceed that of which humans should be able to do.

_***BOOM!...BOOM!...BOOM!...BOOM!...BOOM!...BOOM!***_

Instead of wild shooting Nayuta Mikoto began using more precise strikes to take her down. Each of the spears now only barely missed their marks.

As the ground began to tremble at the sheer force of the strikes, Nayuta continues to trek through the no man's land. It was here when Mikoto started to figure out a few things out about her powers.

Each of the strikes Mikoto used should have been able to hit something moving at around 200 mph due to her holding back but even so, this would be more than enough speed to hit Nayuta, but it didn't.

Somehow Nayuta was able to react before the strike began to move. Not only that, but she was also able to disrupt her power, it wasn't as though she could turn them off it was more like she could overload them.

Mikoto then started to move back as she figured out what Nayuta's ability was, the spears follow suit giving the young Judgement agent pause.

The battlefield that was once brimming with boisterous explosions became silent as the two stared at each other.

"Your power has something to do with AIM fields, right?"

Nayuta clapped her hands, "Good on you!"

Suddenly the electricity around Mikoto's right hand started to expand aggressively, Mikoto had to force herself to control the flux in her powers.

As the blueish white sparks started to die down, Mikoto narrowed her eyes at Nayuta.

"You can overload an esper's AIM field, can't you?"

"Ironic isn't it, the same thing that caused Banri Onee-san and the rest of them to end up in comas now is my primary ability."

"!?"

Nayuta's eyes then began to resemble that of a hunters "I can manipulate the flow and timing of other people's abilities, but I can't track them or even take them away like Takitsubo Onee-san can, at least not yet anyway." She then launched herself towards Mikoto at speeds no human should be able to.

_***BOOM!***_

Nayuta's dash came to an abrupt halt as Mikoto fired strike directly in front of her.

The problem with moving that fast was that you could only move in a linear direction, something which can be a problem when your opponent has such versatility in their ability.

"Pfft! So the secret behind all your power is making me twitch!" Nayuta seemed to be growing agitated with Mikoto's response.

Mikoto wasn't without reason for making this commentary though, from her perspective there were still a lot of unanswered questions and throwing your opponent off by saying something that would get under their skin was a good way to catch them off guard.

"Why are you so pissed at me? I mean challenging me to a fight, even an idiot could tell that this was something personal."

Nayuta glared at Mikoto as she slowly tried to circle around her.

**_*BOOM!*_**

Once again, the earth trembled as Mikoto discharged another precise strike in front of Nayuta stopping her dead in her tracks.

"You said that you knew 'those kids' but I don't see it. I mean to me from the way your powers work it seems as though you used their suffering as a way to boost your powers."

Nayuta's eyes burned with rage, "That's not true!"

"Huh?"

"It was all Kiyama-sensei's fault! Academy City sees Child Errors as if they were defective, and she didn't do anything to stop them!"

"..."

"EVEN IF THEY ARE DEFECTIVE, TREATING SOMEONE LIKE A TRASH JUST BECAUSE THEY WERE BORN DIFFERENT IS UNFORGIVABLE!"

And there she had it, Mikoto had finally found the root of Nayuta's rage, it wasn't out of jealousy or even pride, it was the anger that came with feeling powerless.

Blind with rage Nayuta charged at Mikoto.

Seeing this Mikoto started to release a small field of electricity around herself. The voltage wasn't enough to kill someone but if someone was unfortunate enough to touch it, then they would be met with an electrifying experience.

Even under these circumstances, Nayuta wasn't foolish enough to charge headfirst into what one would consider suicide. Using her ability she able to control the flow of her enemy's ability. With that, she planned to lower the voltage around a certain section of the esper's defenses in order to get one decisive blow.

Nayuta seemed to vanish from Mikoto's line of sight as she moved at superhuman speeds.

Now directly behind Mikoto, she launched her fist directly towards the back of Mikoto.

Mikoto smiled as she admired how much her opponent tried but, in the end, she was up against the speed of lighting.

Blueish White sparks began to form behind Mikoto, with her electromagnetic vision she had a perfect view of the entire battlefield including Nayuta.

What Nayuta failed to comprehend was the sheer versatility and creativity of the _**Railgun**_.

The remaining spears that floated over Mikoto's head not only acted as mere weapons but also as a lens. Using the electromagnetic waves that flowed out of them she had a bird's eye view during the entire fight from the reflected waves. While Nayuta could see AIM Fields perfectly and control the flow of them she could not control the byproducts that came from them and as such had no way of seeing those invisible Electromagnetic waves as they bounced right off her body.

Seeing a cascade of pure electricity come towards her Nayuta jumped away increasing the distance between her and Mikoto.

As Nayuta stopped she realized that she was right back where she started.

As she looked over the craters she could see Mikoto and the true distance that was between them.

She was on another Level, but even so, she didn't give up and started to make the trek back towards Mikoto.

Mikoto smiled as she praised her opponent's tenacity, but even so, she knew that she had to end it now.

_***BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!***_

Nayuta stooped in the middle of No man's land.

Dust covered the air and once in settled Nayuta saw that she was completely unharmed.

At first, she was completely bewildered, why would she not take this opportunity to finish her off.

That's when she realized that the Railgun had already won.

The four reaming spears that she blasted down were shot around her in a perfect square.

Within a second, she could hear the crackling of electricity around her as the four pillars of iron sand rose up.

Before her very eyes, the four pillars acted as an Electromagnet and collected all the iron sand that was left over in the craters.

Once it was finally over she was surrounded by a cage made up of pure iron sand and electricity unable to escape.

_'She planned this from the very start, she left the iron sand in the craters so once she lured me back there I would be surrounded. She never planned on actual shocking me, she planned on trapping me!?... Just how big is that gap truly?'_

As the cage slowly started to close in around her Nayuta, Mikoto started to walk towards her.

"I wouldn't try to overload my powers now if I were you, I might be good but I'm not perfect."

The cage then started to swirl around Nayuta shrinking even more.

_'If I were stronger I could stop her flow, but I'm not, so I'll have to do with what I have left!'_

Nayuta then launched her right fist through the Swirling cage of iron sand aiming at her opponent's face.

Nayuta couldn't completely control the sand, but she could control how the sand could be controlled.

Using all of her calculation abilities she made a small gap in the iron sand while it wasn't big enough for her to escape from it was more than enough for her fist to.

As her fist neared the opening Mikoto simply took one step back.

With that one step she shifted the entire cage with her, the gap that was only inches away from her fist became feet.

As Nayuta tried to keep steady and move forward to try again, she felt herself unsteady and began to fall.

Mikoto had used the landscape that she designed with her spears to her advantage.

Nayuta fell face-first into a crater.

Within less than a second, a dome of pure iron sand covered the crater along with Nayuta inside.

The fight was over, Nayuta had no way of winning or even getting in a hit.

**WINNER: MIKOTO MISAKA**

* * *

**Part 4**

**Battlefield**

The dome the held Nayuta was now being lifted off by Mikoto.

As Nayuta began to get out of the crater and dust herself off she saw that iron sand around her had not completely dissipated, and she was still in a cage of iron sand, albeit a larger cage.

"That was a good fight," Mikoto then looked at Nayuta not with eyes of prejudiced but that of curiosity, "If you don't mind me asking how were you able to move."

Nayuta softly laughed, not at Mikoto but at herself, " I took on several experiments in order to get stronger, and as a result of that about 70% of my body isn't of flesh anymore." She then pointed at her right eye which was artificial, it had a different color iris then her left.

"I see, so you use that body to carry out superhuman feats, must come in pretty handy when you work in Judgement."

Nayuta seemed happy as she smiled at Mikoto. "Yeah, but because of that I lack senses those amazing people have."

"You seem pretty amazing to me."

"Heh...the one who taught me all this, Amata Oji-san, he told me that 'if I train this to the max, I'd have nothing to be afraid of when fighting that #1 esper in Academy City,"

"Hmph, aiming a little high are we."

Nayuta slightly chuckled, "I'm sorry I got angry at you, I don't have any grudges against you. It's just that I wanted to prove my own strength and justice. So that when Banri Onee-san and the rest of them do wake up they can smile."

Mikoto then smiled, "Well you better get to it you don't have a lot of time left."

"?"

Mikoto then grinned at her, "Because pretty soon we'll be able to find a way to wake up all of your friends."

Nayuta was in shock, "But, how I mean-"

It was at this moment Mikoto understood why Touma always kept on smiling and never gave up even when things looked the bleakest, "Don't worry, I promise we'll wake up all of your friends, that way you can show them just how strong you have gotten." It was to because he wanted to see other people smile.

Tears started to drip from her eye, "You're….really nice Railgun Onee-san."

The surrounding cage finally fell, and she went over to hug Mikoto.

After a few moments, Nayuta let go, "Just you wait, Onee-san, I'll get strong enough to even surpass all the Level 5."

"Pfft!HAHA!"

Nayuta then puffed her cheeks, "What's so funny?"

The reason why Mikoto was laughing was that she was picturing the pathetic fight Shokuhou would put up against Nayuta.

"HAHAHA! Let's just say you got one fight in the bag!"

Nayuta tilted her head slightly as she had no idea what she was talking about. She then whispered to her "Okay? Anyway, we'll let you go see Kamijou now."

"!?"

"Is it really that surprising?"

"N-No it's just, are you sure?"

Nayuta nodded, "Yeah I'm sure, with someone like you around he's bound to be safer than with that moron anyway."

"True."

Nayuta then winked at Mikoto, "Just make sure to keep it PG Onee-san, I know it might get temp-"

Mikoto's face then became as red as a tomato as she stumbled backward "Wha-wah-What are you talking about!?"

Nayuta then had a gleeful smile painted on her face "Hehehehe, now that was a joke. I mean really why would someone like Kamijou-" Nayuta stopped sensing something was wrong.

"..."

"Onee-san?"

"Heh…. You know that was funny," A dark aura started to form around Mikoto along with bluish-white sparks since Nayuta could see AIM fields to her it looked like Mikoto was a thunder god bringing on the apocalypse, "Why don't I help you with your training some more. Let's have a fight that we won't regret."

Nayuta sensing the danger posed on her life began backing away slowly, "O-Onee-san."

Mikoto then reached into her pocket and pulled out an arcade token, "How about I show you what 30% of a Railgun looks like."

All the color seemed to drain away from Nayuta's face as Mikoto flipped the coin in the air.

In the background, Kuroko could be seen freaking the hell out. "OOOOOOOOOONEEE-SAMA!? HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND!?" Kuroko teleported herself to the battlefield next to Mikoto.

_***BOOOOM!***_

"Don't worry Kuroko," Mikoto wasn't insane, she launched the Railgun several meters above Nayuta's head

Seeing this unbelievable scene, Nayuta fell over on her back.

As the beam of dull orange and yellow energy flew upwards it came to an abrupt halt when a guy in the white uniform appeared in front of it.

"!? When did you get here?"

When he finally landed back on the ground he spat out arcade game coin that he caught with his teeth onto his hand and stared at it.

He then looked over at Mikoto with a serious expression.

Everyone on the battlefield was on edge.

"You can't bring Arcade Tokens out of the store, I feel that it's best that you return this to the arcade before the shopkeeper gets angry." He then had a sincere smile on his face, "I can go apologize with you if you want."

There was silence.

After a while, Nayuta picked herself off the ground and dusted herself off and approached him.

"I'VE THOUGHT THIS BEFORE, EVERYONE'S THOUGHT THIS BEFORE BUT WAS TOO NICE TO SAY ANYTHING, BUT I CAN'T STAND IT ANYMORE! I HAVE TO SAY IT YOU'RE A MORON!"

Sogiita eyes widen in shock, "WHAT!?"

He then looked over to the others and saw them all averting their eyes from him.

"I see...BUT THAT DOESN'T MATTER! BECAUSE MY GUT'S WILL SHOW ME THE WAY!" Sogiita punched the air causing colorful explosions to appear behind him.

Nayuta simply shook her head and began to walk away.

The others follow suit leaving him alone. He then sensed something on the floor had Guts, so he picked it up. Completely oblivious of the fact that everyone had already left. "Hey guys I found-"

"..."

As the three started to make their way out of the battlefield, Sogiita appeared in front of them seemingly from nowhere.

"Hold up you still have to return those Arcade Tokens!"

Mikoto then turned to Kuroko and Nayuta who both nodded in unison, she then turned to face him and cleared her throat, "YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO LECTURE ME" Sogiita flinched slightly, "OUT OF EVERYONE HERE YOUR THE ONLY ONE WHO GOT ARRESTED, STOP ACTING HIGH AND MIGHTY." Both of the girls nodded in approval.

"EH!? I was arrested! WHEN!?"

Everyone collectively facepalmed.

Be it divine empowerment Mikoto kept her cool "Never mind, I'll do it later."

Sogiita gave her a thumbs up, "Good job."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Well if you guys don't mind I have to go look for Kamijou-sama" Sogiita then rocketed himself into the sky and began to kick the air giving him pseudo flight.

Nayuta then looked over to Mikoto, "Yeah maybe it's best if Kamijou doesn't go to the Gemstone facility."

Index who was left behind struggled to catch up to all of them, after all, she was just a nun.

"Huff...Mikoto….huff... Good job" It seemed out of all of them, Index was the one who truly surpassed her limits.

* * *

**Judgement Branch Office 177**

Once all of them managed to get as far away from the number 7 as possible they found themselves at Kuroko's branch office.

While traveling there Nayuta talked with Index and found her to be, Interesting, to say the least not very often you find a nun in training especially in Academy City.

"So you're telling me that some old guy parted the entire red sea."

Index nodded.

"But how!? I mean was he a Gemstone?"

Index shook her head and carried herself as though she was the superior one in terms of intelligence, "Tsk Tsk Little girl, of course not he was bestowed his power from God."

"Eh!? But that makes no sense. How was he able to control the water? And didn't you say he was traveling with a caravan? It would take days for all of them to cross and how did he hold off the incoming crocodiles."

"God."

"THAT MAKES NO SENSE!"

"Did what the 'explosion boy' do make sense?"

Nayuta went to answer but quickly stopped herself, "You win."

Index stood triumphantly as she to beat Nayuta.

"Having fun back there Index?"

"Yeah, I really like Nayuta, she's a lot of fun!"

Mikoto then turned to Kuroko, "Hey thanks for not getting involved back there."

Kuroko sighed, "It was nothing really, I already knew you could take on that brat with ease Onee-sama."

"I heard that!"

Kuroko knew full well that Nayuta was listening to them speak.

"So anyway, I'm gonna take Index back home, what about you?"

Kuroko groaned, "Well first I'm gonna have to keep this little tyke here."

Nayuta then turned around to face her superior, "What are you talking about senpai?"

Kuroko then narrowed her eyes at the elementary student, "Don't try to weasel your way out of this squirt, you know full well that we have to file a report on that moron!"

"Eh!? But we both know that he'll just get away with it again and I want to go home!" She was still a kid when it came to her having to do paperwork.

Kuroko, however, had no mercy and started pinching her cheeks. "Listen here kid, I don't care how much you whine," Kuroko then let go of her cheeks and knelt to look her directly in her eyes, "You're still a member of Judgement, never forget that!" The rage that came from her was neither from hate or disgust but simply out of concern.

"Senpai…. Alright."

"Good," Kuroko then turned to Mikoto, "I'll see you later Onee-sama!"

"Okay, good luck."

"Bye Kuroko, Bye Nayuta!" Index waved them off as though she was setting off to sea.

* * *

**Part 5**

**Komoe-sensei's Apartment**

As the two reached the Apartment Mikoto stopped as she was about to open on the door.

She knew that once she did Index would find out the truth.

"Mikoto is something wrong?"

Mikoto dreaded this. "Yeah I'm fine," With a heavy heart, Mikoto opened the door to reveal Touma surrounded by a plethora of textbooks the floor was littered with what seemed to be scrap paper.

"Touma! Look at the mess you did! And after I and Mikoto went to all that trouble for you!"

Touma simply rubbed the back of his neck smiled back at her while she reprimanded him.

Even after all of them cleaned up the Mess that Touma made Index was none the wiser, she was too busy lecturing Touma on being a better guest to Komoe-sensei.

Once they finished Index went over to the other side of the room and started watching her favorite show. Neither Touma nor Mikoto had the heart to tell her.

They both excused themselves and exited the apartment and sat on the same bench they did when they first brought Index here.

They just sat there for what seemed to be an eternity until Touma broke the silence. "You couldn't do it, huh?"

Mikoto lightly nodded, "How do you tell someone that?"

Touma looked up at the sunset, "I don't know? But you know Kanzaki paid me a visit today."

Mikoto's eyes shot wide open, "Are you okay!? She didn't hurt you did she!?"

"No, she was just worried that's all, wouldn't you be if your friend was about to go through...that."

Mikoto relaxed slightly, "What'd she say?"

Touma sighed, "She said we don't have a chance to cure her with magic. Apparently, she's never even read a book that had to do with Memories."

Mikoto clenched her fist, "Damn it."

"I know, she also said something about my ju-" Touma then stopped himself from revealing what Kanzaki told him about his judgment being clouded.

"What did she say?"

"N-Nothing"

Mikoto wasn't a master at reading people, but she spent enough time around Touma to know when he was lying, this had to do with his memories.

"Well let me tell you about my day, I ran into our fire magician."

"Ah!? Are you okay"

"Pfft! As if that loser could do anything to me, no what he told me was that he didn't trust you."

Touma rolled his eyes, "Of course he doesn't."

Mikoto then turned to face him, "He also told me about what you said about your memories."

"!?"

"I'm guessing that Kanzaki came here because she wanted to make you understand, am I right?"

Touma was silent.

Mikoto narrowed her eyes at the boy, "He told me that you called yourself 'broken'"

Touma flinched at hearing that word but, still, he was silent.

"Well, am I wrong?"

Left with no other choice Touma admitted the truth"... No."

Even though Mikoto already knew the answer it didn't stop it from being anymore shocking.

Touma then felt a hand on his shoulder, "You're not **broken**."

Touma sighed. "I know that. It was just something I said in the heat of the moment I guess."

"How'd it happen?"

Touma looked at the ground he was tempted to just lie to her but couldn't bring himself to do it, "I don't know, I mean I think I do but, I'm just going off what people tell me, I really don't know."

Mikoto knew that Touma wouldn't remember anything about the accident, she was just trying to make it easier for him to admit to it, "How do you feel?'

"!?, What are you-"

"Ever since I met you seemed to care more about others than you do yourself. So, how do you feel?"

Touma sat there looking at the ground wishing that this wasn't happening, he could always get up and walk away but that wouldn't be fair to her, Touma took a deep breath this would be the first time he actually told how he felt.

"I don't know… I mean…. I don't remember."

"What don't you remember?"

"Why I came here, when I woke up I thought I was fine I mean I was in the hospital sure but I thought I got off pretty lucky only losing a couple of months of memories, heh but when have I ever been lucky," Touma chuckled dryly, "I mean things were going great, really great but then the other shoe fell when I realized I lost a whole hell of a lot more than a couple of months of my memories."

"!? What are you talking about."

Touma then looked Mikoto dead in the eyes, the look he gave was one she'd never seen on him before, vulnerable, "You need to promise me that you'll never tell anyone this if that person ever found out it would kill them."

Mikoto nodded, "I promise."

"I don't remember what my parents look like."

"!?"

"I do now but, one day I got a call from home and had no idea who was on the other line, it was like I was talking to a stranger, that's when I started to put the pieces together, I didn't know how or why I came to Academy City, and I didn't know what my parents look like, I put a picture of them by my bed in case I can remember but, I keep on drawing blanks."

"Kamijou."

"I didn't...no I couldn't tell them what really happened. I couldn't bear to see the look on their face if I told them. They're already killing themselves over me losing a couple of months if I told them this…. I don't know what they'd do."

"Who? The person who took your memories?"

Touma nodded, "They're, not a bad person you know, hell it took me over 3 months to get them to smile again."

"D-Did you at least talk to your parents about this?"

"Heh I wish, how's that conversation gonna go, hey I have no idea who either of you are, so can you tell me."

"If you didn't tell your parents and you didn't tell the person who took your memories, who did you to tell?"

"Nobody, you're the first, I've been avoiding this conversation as long as I could, that's why I barely talked to my folks. Hell, when this happened I thought I'd hit Game over."

Mikoto felt like hitting something after hearing that, she felt like hitting him for bottling this up so damn long, she felt like hitting the person who stole his memories, she felt like hitting all his friends who could ignore his broken smile. But in the end, she couldn't do anything.

Because at the end of the day it was Kamijou Touma who ended up hitting himself the hardest every day he had to lie to everyone he knew, that it was alright.

Touma then turned to Mikoto, "I don't know if what I went through is really affecting my judgment here, but I do know that Index is going through something a hell of a lot worse than me, I know that I want to save her, and I know that I want to help her rebuild those memories that she'd lost."

"I don't….how can you say that."

Touma then turned to her and smiled, "Because that's what I did, I made peace with the fact that I'll never be able to get those memories back, so I decided to make new ones, I decided that no matter how many times I reach game over I'll never stop moving forward."

Mikoto could see the light once again filling his eyes, it wasn't that he was broken it was that he needed time to heal.

Touma's eyes burned with passion. "I don't know if we can save Index this year or even the next, but no matter how many times we have to pathetically hit continue, we will save Index. Those magicians can go screw themselves if they'd rather keep on going like they have been fine, but I'll never give in and I'll never give up!"

Mikoto then smiled, "I'm happy to hear it, and just so you know I totally zapped that Loser until he was twitching on the ground."

Touma then started laughing as he mentally pictured Stiyl convulsing on the floor like an idiot.

For the first time that he could remember Touma felt a weight lift from his shoulders.

Mikoto was tempted to tell Touma about Shokuhou but decided against it. She didn't want to get his hopes up in case she couldn't fix his memories as well as the fact that she didn't trust her with Touma.

After a few minutes of Mikoto explaining her day to Touma, he patted her on the back.

"Glad to see you didn't let that Nayuta get to you."

Mikoto tilted her head, "She said she met you before, was that when..."

Touma nodded, "Yeah apparently I met her over the summer. I met her one time after and boy was she pissed."

Mikoto chuckled, "Yeah, you have that way with people you know."

"What's that supposed to mean!?"

Ignoring Touma's comment she moved onto something more pressing, "So should we tell her?"

It took a moment for Touma to think up the word in his head, "Yeah, I know it won't help us but it's like you said she has a right to know. Can I see the cross Stiyl gave you? I swear I won't touch it."

Mikoto nodded and went to pull the cross from her shorts.

Panic immediately filled Mikoto's body.

"What is it?"

Her face looked flush and it looked like she was about to faint if it wasn't for Touma helping her stand.

"Mikoto are you okay!?"

Mikoto mind raced, it was as if the entries day's event played over and over in her head, "I lost it."

"!?"

Mikoto started shaking if they couldn't get find that necklace than Index would…

"Mikoto look at me!" Mikoto snapped out of the mental hell she put herself in, "It's not your fault, we'll find that necklace" She had no real reason to believe him, but she did so anyway.

"First let's just try to retrace your steps, where did you go first after Stiyl gave you the necklace?"

Suddenly it clicked inside of Mikoto's mind, there was only one place she could've lost that necklace.

"The Battlefield."

* * *

**Battlefield**

Touma had to come up with some excuse to tell Index that they had to go back to the Battlefield, she was mad at first until Mikoto explained that it was because she had just dropped jewelry there, and he was helping her out. Index wanted to come to, but they assured her that had it covered.

Minutes turned to hours as they scoured the entire Battlefield. The sun had already set, and it was dark out already. Normally Mikoto would have freaked out that she'd miss curfew, but she completely disregarded that feeling instead, focusing on searching.

And still, they were no closer to finding that damn necklace.

* * *

**Magicians Hideout**

As Kanzaki watched over Index in the distance she heard Stiyl approach her from behind

"How'd it go with the boy?"

Kanzaki faltered for a moment, but quickly regained her composure, "He understands what he has to do, what about the girl?"

Stiyl winched remembering the electrocution he got earlier, "She understands, and she will make sure the boy understands as well."

Kanzaki simply used her binoculars to watch Index as she slept, "Do you trust her?"

Stiyl fell silent for a moment, "Do I really have a choice?"

"No, you do. That's why you gave her the real cross instead of the fake one."

"Tch! In the end, it doesn't matter if I trust them or not, this will all end the same way it always had."

Kanzaki stayed silent as she watched Index.

Silently she prayed for Kamijou to succeed.

Stiyl then looked over at the Timer he had set when they first arrived in Academy City.

**24:00 hrs left**

* * *

**Battlefield**

**July 27**

**12:00 AM**

"GOD DAMN IT!" Mikoto roared as loud as she could as she shifted the dirt for the 20th time looking for that damn necklace.

For once Touma had to be the Levelheaded one of the two, "Calm down! Beating yourself up over this won't help us find the necklace any sooner."

Mikoto gritted her teeth as she was on the verge of tears, "It's all my fault, if-"

Kamijou then grabbed her shoulder, "Stop blaming yourself, you didn't do it on purpose did you!?"

"O-Of course not!?"

"Then stop beating yourself up! I know you, and you'd never intentionally risk Index's life."

Mikoto was happy that Touma trusted her, but she still couldn't stop blaming herself, if she was only a bit more careful than she wouldn't had lost it.

She mentally counted every possibility she had that would have prevented this.

She could have worn it as a necklace!

She could've wrapped it as a chain in her purse!

Hell, she could've even given it to that Moron!

"!"

She finally realized who had the Necklace.

"Hey guys I found-"

"I know where it is!"

* * *

**Epilogue**

**Gemstone Research Facility**

**Hours Earlier**

Kumokawa sat at her desk hearing Sogiita tell her what happened today

"So, to summarize you couldn't find Kamijou and ended up refereeing a street fight?"

Sogiita nodded, "Yeah sorry, but hey at least I found this" He then presented her with a silver cross necklace that he found at the Battlefield, "It's brimming with Guts, you can have it if you want" He then handed her the necklace.

Kumokawa rolled eyes as she accepted her consolation prize, "Thanks."

"No Problem" And with that Sogiita left her office to go home.

Kumokawa dangled the Necklace with her fingers.

"What's this thing supposed to be?" She then began carelessly spinning it around.

Kumokawa then stood up from her desk and hovered the Necklace over the trash shoot.

"Just some trash that people who are too weak and stupid use in order to give themselves hope."

Kumokawa then let go of the Necklace.

Just as it was about to fully go in, she caught it.

"Tch! Knowing that moron he'll probably be able to sense that I threw it away and I'll never hear the end of it."

She then stormed over to her desk and open a drawer and dropped the Necklace inside.

It was getting late, so she decided to call it a day and go home.

Kumokawa then left the room and closed the door behind her locking it "Don't worry Kamijou, we'll meet again soon enough."

She had no idea how right she was.

* * *

**Omake**

**Judgement strikes Again!**

Since all the desks were being used or taken up Nayuta decided to fill out her paperwork in the offices Interrogation room.

As she scribbled away as fast as her little hands could, she noticed that the lights were starting to flicker on and off.

"Huh?"

***All the lights turn off making the room pitch black***

"Hey what the heck?"

As all the lights then turn back on Nayuta was faced with a girl that had dawned a black domino mask on along with a black trench coat, but the most surprising thing for her was her headband it was covered in black roses something that Nayuta had only seen in books.

"W-Who are you?"

The heroine spoke with a deep menacing voice as she stared at her menacingly "**Justice**"

All the lights turned off and Nayuta could hear footsteps go around her, within a second she dashed towards this mysterious heroine.

Just then the door creaks open and in pops Kuroko.

"What's going on in here!?"

As the light shined over the room it revealed that Nayuta was alone.

"B-But she was just here." Nayuta was so confused, because of all the confusion she never got a chance to read that mysterious persons AIM field.

"What are you talking about?"

Nayuta then looked around the room for any opening that the heroine could've used to escape. But she was met with the terrifying discovery that there was none.

"S-She had black roses all over her head!"

Kuroko sighed, "Look I know you're still in grade school, but come on you're old enough to not need any imaginary friends."

"B-But"

"Just get back to work."

* * *

**Outside**

As Nayuta walked out of the office she was still no closer at figuring out what happened in that room than before.

Maybe it was his imagination, she had just been through a stressful situation.

Nayuta sighed and decided a snack was in order and opened up her red kiddie bag and pulled out her lunchbox.

She had saved some parfait from earlier today and planned to eat it.

The moment she opened the Lunch box her Mind was blown.

There was no parfait insight instead she was greeted with a Single black rose.

* * *

**Judgment office branch 177**

From the window, Uiharu watches Nayuta as she looks side to side utterly and hopelessly confused.

Uiharu chuckles as she pulls out a parfait.

Kuroko who was walking by noticed Uiharu had a dessert "Where'd you get the Parfait Uiharu?"

"Oh, you know," Uiharu then gracefully opens a drawer in her desk revealing a domino mask and a headband made up of black rose, she pushes them both aside and grabs a disposable spoon instead, "places."

**To Be Continued…..**

* * *

**Author's Notes**

Touma received two types of Brain injuries when Miskai used her powers on him.

**Retrograde Amnesia**\- The loss of memory before an event occurred- In this case, he lost 3 months worth of memories from Miskai accidentally smothering his brain cells to death by forcefully manipulating the fluids in his brain in an unsafe manner.

**Lacunar amnesia**-the loss of memory about one specific event.- In this case, he lost all memories from before he entered Academy City, including his family, due to this every memory he has of them after he came to Academy City was damaged. He can make new memories with them and can vaguely recall what they did when he did see them after he came to Academy City but if he tries to remember their faces or voices he would turn up with nothing.

He planned on meeting them in person during this years Daihasei Festival and showing them both a surprise.

Can you guess what it is?

The Next Chapter will be the Finale for the Index Arc

Tune in Next time for the chapter

**Never Say Goodbye**


	19. Chapter 19 Never Say Goodbye

**Hey guys thanks for reading A Certain Scientific Counter. Sorry for the delay, but it took a little longer than usual to complete the chapter because I had to write a few other things ahead of time. Thank you so too much to everyone who left a review it really helps me learn as an author. Now without further ado Q&A.**

**D. - Maybe, he could just tell it was important and liked the way it the way it looked.**

**BlueJack22- Teenage esper ninja Kuroko.**

**Anti-Mage 29- Thank you and Touma never planned on seeing his parents for Angel Fall since it happened as a direct result after getting away from Academy City while they cleaned things up for him and as a result, it was a surprise.**

**Fortitude501- Nah it may happen, really depends on how I continue the story, however.**

**Sirius962- Thank you for that :)**

**Tsun- Yeah I can see where you're coming from there.**

**Savior555- Once again thank you for the amazing recap and thank you, everyone loves a great twist. Also Justice…**

**Tsun- Yeah I like this way better too, it really counters what happened in the cannon.**

**Tsun- That is correct but, she makes up for it with an electrifying personality….clap…...clap.**

**Tsun- Thanks I tried to write the dialogue with their own personalities in mind.**

**Tsun- Thank you.**

**Savior555- No problem it's not like that one mistake shifted the wholes story direction or anything….cough.**

**Nguyen Thanh Long- What? Are you implying that Uiharu and that masked heroine have some sort of connection? That's preposterous. And I really liked the ending of your comment.**

**Tsun- Hooray!**

**Rajarshi Sarkar- Thank you and yeah some things never change at least not for now anyway. And Kumokawa saved by her Kamijou, perhaps he'll shatter those illusions.**

**Chris- Yeah she has, and it's a good rule of thumb to never to flip the tsundere switch, and Kanzai is always no-nonsense when it comes to protecting the people she cares about. Who knows how long it'll take for them to see the light. With the stage set her is ACSC.**

**Chris- I haven't read that but, I'll see if I can check it out.**

**Perseus Ruby Sendou- Thank you for the concern over Touma.**

**Ryder-hmmm Raildextor sounds better but I think you meant to write the other one like AccelRaildex.**

**Tou-Man- I agree with you there Touma and Peter Parker are similar. With great power comes great responsibility….and Misfortune. The universe really does like to mess with these two but, they stick it Now ACSC**

**Never Say Goodbye**

**July 27**

**Part 1**

"Okay, so you're telling Japanese Superman has our magical necklace, am I getting that right?" Touma looked over to Mikoto for confirmation.

"He's not Japanese Superman."

Touma rolled his eyes, "Mikoto, you literally told me he literally went up, up and away, He's Japanese Superman as far as I'm concerned or do you want me to call him Shonen man."

Mikoto had to rub her temples after hearing Touma's logic.

Touma let out a sigh, "Anyways at least we know where the necklace is at least, so do you have his number?"

"What!? I told you the story before didn't I, he annoyed the hell out of all of us, why the hell would I ask that moron for his number!?"

Touma with a straight face answered her, "Networking," Touma learned that from Misaki, "It's always good to Network with people, never know when they'll come in handy?"

Mikoto gritted her teeth, she didn't know why that annoyed her so much, but she knew it did, "Okay then, why don't you have his number? Huh!? Kamijou-sama!" She emphasized the sama sarcastically, {sama- used to refer to people who are deserving of the utmost respect status, usually for people you admire}

Touma raised his hands defensively, "What's that supposed to mean!?"

Mikoto narrowed her eyes at him.

"Mikoto, we met him the same day, in fact, you hung out with him more than I ever had." Touma pointed out as he tried to make his case.

She continued to glare.

"What?"

It was a battle of wills.

Touma lost almost immediately "Fine, I'm sorry."

Mikoto sighed, "Anyways we need to find a way to find him, do you know anything?"

Touma took a moment to think about it. "Well, the guys still a student right?"

Mikoto nodded.

"So he obviously has a Dorm, so can't we just find out where he lives from a database or something?"

Mikoto then snapped her fingers, "Yeah, that could work, but there's one slight problem."

Touma worryingly sighed, "What is it?"

"We're gonna have to break into the Gemstone Research facility."

"..."

"..."

"HAHAHAHAHAHA, Are you kidding me! I got arrested just for buying the same brand of coffee as the guy who actually did the crime, no way in hell am I gonna go actively break the law!"

"Look, I know it's not ideal, but it's the only way we can find his Dorm, I can't look him up in the student directory because I have no idea where he goes to school."

"Now that you mention it, does he actually go to a school?"

"He probably does just not often enough for the school to get recognized because he goes there."

"Wait a sec, why can't you just do the whole hacking thing, as you did for the cameras a couple of days ago and hack the mainframe or something?"

Mikoto sighed, "Because that's not how it works, information regarding Level 5s are under strict lock and key even if I somehow my way in we'd both end up in prison. And tracking him down with cameras is also out of the question since he literally flew up."

"So, basically you're telling me to choose between a felony or a capital offense?"

Mikoto simply shrugged.

"Sigh…. Wait, what about this, What if instead of breaking and entering we just go there during normal business hours and ask them for the information. Whenever that is?"

"!?, What?" She honestly seemed surprised by this response.

"Yeah, I mean I know we're on a bit of time crunch here but, I don't think getting arrested is gonna help us get back on track."

"Yeah I guess, wait have you actually ever been to the Gemstone Research facility before?"

Touma shook his head, "Nope, to be honest, I was kinda hoping this whole Gemstone thing would just blow over and I could go back to being a Level 0."

Mikoto then narrowed her eyes at him "Are you seriously still claiming to be a Level 0?"

"YES!, for the last time I was a Level 0 just a couple of days ago, why is that so hard to believe?"

Mikoto simply rolled her eyes, "Fine, say I believe you were actually a Level 0 it doesn't change the fact that Academy City still sees you as a Gemstone. No amount of whining is gonna change that, might as well suck it up."

"Whatever, so how are we gonna do this?"

Mikoto thought it over in her head for a while and came to the conclusion that it'd be best if she went alone rather than together, Mikoto didn't know why, but she thought it best to keep Touma away from that Facility. "Tomorrow I'll go to the facility and ask the person in charge of the information, after that we'll go together to get the necklace."

Touma nodded, "Okay, while you do that I'll put together some breakfast, so we can tell Index about the whole...you know."

Mikoto sighed. She knew that it was a real possibility that they might not be able to save Index in time, but that didn't make it any easier.

"So we really don't have any leads on saving Index?"

"Hmm…... Well we have one other way, but that'll be the last resort if anything, really I'm hoping to see the doc again today and have him check on Index if we have any Time, but considering how Kanzaki said she felt about Scientist, I don't think she'll take it lying down."

"Pfft! Let her come! If she even thinks about trying anything I'll-"

Touma was quick to interrupt her "You shouldn't fight her, it's not that I don't think you'll win or anything it's just that….she's going through the same stuff we are right now if not worse."

"What'd you mean?"

"I mean look at what their doing, they actually tried to talk it out with us, from what I could see from them they'd rather shoot first and ask questions later, but because they lost, they threw away their pride and asked us to do the right thing because they wanted to protect their friend even if it meant getting zapped by someone."

Mikoto looked at the floor downtrodden, "Sigh. I think I know what you're talking about."

Touma then turned his head and looked over at the clearing that was lit by the moonlight, "We wanna save Index, they wanna save Index, so are any of us really the bad guys here? Sure they attacked me, but they never planned on killing me. If Kanzaki wanted to she could've killed me in a second. To them we're the one in the wrong….so are any of us really in the right here?"

"Where the hell did that come from?"

"I don't know? It's just something I was thinking about after I talked to Kanzaki."

* * *

**Part 2**

**Gemstone Research Facility**

**Early Morning**

After the events of last night Mikoto managed to sneak back into Tokiwadai unnoticed with the help of Kuroko, Although she wasn't completely off the hook since Kuroko spent nearly an hour explaining to her that she was supposed to be a role model for the other students and that it was unbecoming of a lady to stay out that night. The conversation ended after Kuroko accused her of seeing a boy which led to her getting shocked and Mikoto going to sleep.

Once the Next day arrived Mikoto got dressed and went over to Komoe-sensei's apartment to make sure Touma didn't sleep in once again.

"WAKE UP!" ***BIRI BIRI!***

***SHATTER***

To make a long story short, Touma quickly grasped the concept of punctuality that day as he narrowly avoided electrocution.

Once she had all of her affairs in order she took a taxi to the Gemstone facility in District 2.

When she first laid her eyes on the Facility Mikoto realized just how secure the facility really was, while the design for the building was unique since it was in the shape of a sports stadium, the area surrounding the Facility was barren and from the EM waves she was picking up from there it was littered with alarms and traps. She knew that researchers liked to keep intruders out, but this seemed more like a military base than anything else. The only secure route to and from the Facility was through the one main road that spanned 3 kilometers in length and even that was littered with a plethora of cameras that were hanging from light posts.

'_Wow!, glad I listened to Kamijou, even with my powers with this terrain they'd be able to see me coming from a kilometer away.'_

Once the awe from seeing the facility died down, she made her way to the entrance.

The moment Mikoto stepped through the main entrance a light shined on her face.

"Huh!?"

'**MISAKA MIKOTO AKA The RAILGUN'.**

"What was that!?" She then looked over at the screens at the end of the walls and saw her name appear on it.

Not a moment sooner Mikoto was greeted by the woman in charge. She had long black hair, a poise that had remarkable grace, she had eyes that would stare into your soul and a body that she would die for.

"Hello, you must be our visitor if I'm not mistaken." She spoke with such a kind, but straightforward tone.

"Oh Uhh, yeah I was looking for the person in charge."

The woman simply motioned to herself, "Oh my apologies, how rude of me not to introduce myself, my name is Kumokawa Seria and I'm the overseer of the Gemstone Facility".

Mikoto was surprised at this, from the look of Kumokawa-senpai she was only in high school and already she was in charge of such a big facility, "You're the Overseer of this whole place?"

Kumokawa simply nodded, "That is correct, and if you don't mind me prying, What exactly brings you here?"

"Oh, I just wanted to talk to you about a certain Gemstone."

Kumokawa simply sighed, "I'm terribly sorry if Sogiita-san did anything to offend you."

"H-How'd you know it was him?"

"It's always him," She then gave off a small downtrodden look and sighed for a moment, "anyways, how can I help?"

"Well, actually I'm looking for Sogiita-san because he has something that belongs to me."

"Oh, and what can that be?" Kumokawa inquired.

"Well it turns out, he picked up a necklace that belongs to me?"

"!?, You don't say," Kumokawa immediately recognized what was happening, the necklace that she lost was the same one Sogiita brought her yesterday, "I'm sorry to hear that, can you describe the necklace for me?"

"Well the necklace has a cross that's made out of silver and gold, I really need it back so do you think you can tell me where he lives?"

Kumokawa took a moment to weigh her options, while she could easily just give this girl the necklace right now, how would that benefit her? While true, she wouldn't be losing anything valuable in the process, it's not every day you have a level 5 at your mercy, especially one that was close to….Kamijou.

Kumokawa let out a small sigh, "I'm terribly sorry Miss Misaka but, I can't divulge any personal information about any of the Gemstone here at our facility it would be a breach of their personal privacy."

Mikoto was desperate, she needed that necklace in case her and Touma couldn't figure out a way to save Index in time, without it her only lifeline would be severed. Mikoto then lowered her head towards Kumokawa to petition her to reconsider "Please, It's really important that I get the necklace by the end of the day. Isn't there anything I could do to get it?"

Unbeknownst to Mikoto, Kumokawa let out a small smile, "Sigh, Wait a minute, there is one way you can get the information."

Mikoto quickly raised her head, "How's that?"

"You're friends with a boy named Kamijou Touma, are you not?"

Mikoto wasn't just shocked to hear his name but, was shocked that she knew that they were friends. "H-How did you know-"

"It's my job to know," Kumokawa got straight to the point as she eyed Mikoto, "My job requires that I oversee all the Gemstones in Academy City, while true there are only 4 that doesn't make it any less important. If I wasn't watching over all of them they could easily be targeted by organizations and taken away to god knows where. "

Mikoto stared at her quizzically, "Okay but, what do you want?"

Kumokawa shrugged, "Nothing much, I just ask that you help me perform my job by asking Kamijou-san to come to the facility".

Mikoto tilted her head confused by this request, "Can't you just call him to come in?"

Kumokawa then let out a sigh, "I might be in charge of overseeing the Gemstones but, I'm not their mother, I can't force anyone to come in if they don't want to, even if it would make my job easier in the process they each have the freedom to choose whether to come in or not."

"Wait so you're saying-"

Kumokawa nodded, "Out of all 4 Gemstones in Academy City, Sogiita is the only one that actually comes in for his welfare check, for the rest of them I have to scour the cameras of Academy City to make sure they're okay. We don't exactly run the tightest of facilities here due to the fact any Gemstones get placed here by default and as a result, we are unable to deny or revoke entry."

"W-Wow, your job must be hell, I mean having to take care of a bunch of ungrateful people but, why is it then you want Kamijou to come in so badly?"

"Simple, while I trust Kamijou-san ability to take care of himself, I know him, and he had a bit of a tendency to get himself mixed up in the most, how can I say this, misfortunate of predicaments."

Mikoto sighed as she chuckled dryly, "You can say that again, so is that really all you want?"

"Yes, all I want is Kamijou-san to come in, so I can better help him in the future, once that happens I can pass off the address to Kamijou and in turn he can give it to you, that way nobody would be violating any rules since Sogiita had already put in a request to see Kamijou."

"W-Wait a second, put in a request?"

Kumokawa rolled her eyes, "Yes if any facility wants to experiment with a Gemstone they have to be carefully vetted by me to make sure that they are in the up and up and then once that's done it's up to the Gemstone in question if they want to do it or not, in this case however Sogiita made a request."

"Why would he put in a request?"

Kumokawa's voice turned stern for a moment, "Probably to fight him but, don't worry I already informed Sogiita that he is not to instigate any fights with other members of his facility unless it's carefully supervised."

Mikoto then let off a smile, "Okay, I'll see what I can do."

* * *

**Touma's Dorm**

Once Mikoto finished talking to Kumokawa-san she headed over to Touma's Dorm, apparently, he took Index over there, so he could make them all breakfast.

The moment Mikoto entered his dorm she realized it was almost as big as her room and that was saying something since she went to Tokiwadai, it looked as though he had two dorms. It might have been bigger if not for the corner that was filled with moving boxes.

She then turned her head and saw Touma cooking in what seemed to be a kitchen that would be suitable for starting a small restaurant. On the counter overlooking the Kitchen, she could see Index scratching down her breakfast with a small pile of plates next to her. The moment she stepped in Index stopped eating and turned to her.

"Mikoto! Did you Touma was a chef!? He has a Kitchen and everything! He even has one of those golden lighters!"

Mikoto looked shocked if anything as she looked over in the kitchen and saw Touma walking over with another two plates of gourmet breakfast dishes for Index.

"One plate of Soufflé Omelette, and one plate full of proper pancakes, you wanted 3 filled with lemon custard and the rest with chocolate sauce, right?"

Index's mouth began to water as Touma got closer with her meal, "Mh-hmm!"

Once he put down the plate Index began eating every bite, savoring every last bite as each was better than the last. "It's so good, Mikoto you have to try some!"

Mikoto then turned her attention back on the newly discovered chef, "Since when could you cook?"

Touma tilted his head, "Always, in fact, I wanted to cook for you guys when Index had her first big day out, but Komoe-sensei said not too."

In between bites Index yelled at him "Touma, show her the lighter!"

Touma quickly rummaged through his pocket and went to give the lighter to Mikoto.

Mikoto examined the lighter and she could immediately tell that it was actually made of gold. The lighter had engravings on it, the bottom case of the Lighter had a giant star symbol on it while the top lid had Prince engraved on to it.

"Prince?"

Touma chuckled as he rubbed the back of his head, "I-It was a gift, I wanted to give it back but, since they went through all the trouble I thought it would've been rude if I did. It's one of the few expensive things that I own now."

Mikoto then handed him back his lighter, "Hmm," Mikoto didn't know why but, the lighter seemed to tick her off.

Touma then grabbed another plate and put it on the counter a good arm's length away from Index's grasp and went back to make Mikoto's breakfast.

"So how did, you know what go?"

Index stopped eating for a moment to look over at Mikoto.

Mikoto then went over to sit by the counter next to Index, "All in all, good although you're gonna have to be the one to go get it."

"Huh? What're you talking about?"

Mikoto then crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes at him, "Apparently you make it your hobby to make someone else's job hell. Kumokawa-san said she'd tell us everything we need to know as long as you go to the facility and ask her."

Touma then stopped cooking for a moment, he had worry painted all over his face as he turned around to face Mikoto, "W-W-Wait a sec….y-y-you're telling me Kumokawa-senpai is the one in charge of the Facility?"

Mikoto looked confused as Touma began to freak out, "Yeah, do you know her or something?"

Touma gulped, "Y-Y-Yeah, you could say that, did she happen to say anything about being mad at me for something?"

"No, why are you acting so weird?"

Touma then began to rub the back of his head as he breathed in relief, "Well you see, she's my senpai at school, and she's the reason why I got into my major in the first place, I haven't really seen her in while even during the last semester, last I heard she off doing some big fancy project, guess I know what that is."

Mikoto sighed, "In any case the sooner you go to see her the sooner we'll be able to-"

Index then pushed her plate away and turned to Mikoto, "What're you guys talking about?" She had genuine concern painted on her face.

Both she and Touma looked visibly upset as they both knew that they had to tell Index the truth.

The seconds that passed felt like minutes as Index stared at both of them waiting for some kind of response, eventually it was Touma who spoke up.

"Index, can I ask you a question?"

"Huh? Sure Touma, what is it?"

Before Touma asked her he looked over to Mikoto who nodded, "What do you remember about England, that's where you're from right?"

"Hm? ... I don't really know." Index tilted her head to the side as if she really did not

know. "The first thing I remember is being here in Japan. I know I'm from England though. I was born and raised in London's St. George's Cathedral. Apparently, I only came here about a year ago."

Touma frowned at that vague term. 'Apparently'.

"Index, are you telling me that you don't remember anything before coming here to Academy City?"

Index smiled, "Yeah. I have no memories from before about a year ago when I arrived here."

It was the way that Index smiled, that reminds Touma of himself, It was the perfection of that smile that showed him that she was truly feeling pain and fear behind it.

"When I first woke up in a back alley, I had no idea who I was. All I knew was that I had to run away. I couldn't remember what I ate for dinner the night before, but knowledge of things like magic, the Index Librorum Prohibitorum, and Necessarius were swirling around in my mind. It was so scary..."

Mikoto clenched her fist as she spoke, "Then you don't even know why you lost your memories?"

"That's right," she replied. "Mh? Mikoto, are you angry?"

Before Index could press further Touma put his hand on her shoulder, "Index, what if I told you we knew how you lost your memories?"

Index's eyes widen, "What? You know, but how?"

Touma then looked Index directly at Index, "Index, do you remember those two magicians who were chasing you before?"

"Y-Yeah," Index looked a bit fearful remembering them and who could blame her Stiyl wasn't the most welcoming of people and Kanzaki did almost cut her down.

"The reason why they were chasing you was that they wanted to take away your memories."

"M-My memories, but why would they want to do that?"

Touma then looked her directly in the eyes.

The gaze he showed her was not that of pity, but one of understanding.

"Because they were trying to save you, they were your friends Index from the years you don't remember."

Index looked visibly shocked, it seemed as though she was gonna collapse if it wasn't for Mikoto grabbing a chair and helping her sit down she would've.

"M-My friends? But I don't remember them, why would they want to take away my memories if they were my friends? How would it save me? Touma, you're not making any sense." Index looked panicked.

"Index, before you came here they were the ones who looked after you they were your friends, but apparently because you have all those Grimoires in your head they had to erase your memories every year to save you."

Index then began to calm down and let out a small smile, "So I really did have friends before this, Do you know their names, Touma?"

"Their names are Stiyl Magnus and Kanzaki Kaori."

"Kanzaki, that name sounds familiar."

Touma tilted his head, "Well apparently she called herself a Saint, maybe that's why."

The smile Index had on her face vanished the moment Touma said that to her, "Touma, you have to be careful a Saint, is one who is called the 'Child of God'"Index then scanned the room half expecting the door to get kicked in, "They're born with a mark, a 'Stigma'."

Touma let out a small chuckle, "Index you do realize we have no idea what you're talking about right?"

"Oh, yes. Sorry," Index scratched her head nervously still scanning the room as she explained it to them, "Ah, this is based on the **Idol Worship Theory**. Basically, in worshipping a form of a more powerful being, the duplicate can gain a very small portion of the original's power."

Index then looked around the room to give a better example and then found it in the form of a solar panel on the building next door, "Think of it like how humans harness the power of the sun, it's virtually limitless despite having so many ways to make use of its power. In the Saint's case, humans are said to be in the image of God and Saints are a higher replica that can bring out more power. They're currently only about 20 in the world, that's why we're in danger, They said to be as strong as a nuclear bomb!"

Touma chuckled at this.

Index began to puff her cheeks in a huff of anger "Touma this is not something to be laughed at! If they're really after me then we're all in danger!"

Touma then patted her on the shoulder reassuringly, "Don't worry, I already took care of it."

Index tilted her head slightly, "Took care of it?"

Before Touma could get an ego Mikoto steeped in, "Apparently Kamijou here and his ne'er-do-well friend actually managed to take her down."

The shock on Index face was shown as her mouth gaped open, "EHHHHH!"

Touma nodded and smiled towards her, "Yeah she was pretty tough, to bad she picked on the wrong Kamijou," Touma then began playfully punching his own left hand, "We gave her the old one-two combo, and she went down like a sack of-" He was abruptly cut short as Index began to maul him.

"AHHHHH!"

After managing to wrestle Index off him, Index glared at him, "What was that for?"

In Between, her soul cutting scowling Index spoke, "I don't want you fighting my friends Touma."

"!?"

Index then turned to them with a genuine look of concern painted on her face, "I don't want my friends fighting each other, I know I don't remember them, but I think the me who did remember them would want that, I don't want either of you hurt the other for me but, now that I know that you actually hurt them it made me kinda angry."

Her voice didn't sound forced nor did it sound coached, it's what she truly felt.

Touma gave a soft smile, "Sorry I said that I didn't mean to come off rude I just wanted you to know that you didn't have to worry about them attacking us out of the blue."

Index twiddled with her fingers for a moment before responding with a smile, "All is forgiven, after all, what kind of sister would I be if I couldn't forgive my friends."

Everyone smiled until Touma realized they had yet to tell Index that all of this might be forgotten the very next day.

With sadness in his eyes, Touma turned to Index, "There's one more thing that we need to tell you Index, it's about the date."

Index's eyes immediately turned to that of sorrow as she realized that it was almost about to be a year since she first woke up, "It's today isn't it?"

Mikoto bit her lip as she answered, "Yeah."

The room went into dead silence as Index began to cover her eyes as they filled with tears, "I don't ….want it…... I don't want to forget either of you. I don't want to forget!"

As Index began sobbing Touma began to try to comfort her, "Index do want to know something?"

As Index tried to regain her composure in between sniffles, she answered, "What?"

"I lost my Memories too."

"!? What're you talking about?" With eyes still dripping of tears Index looked towards Touma.

"I have no idea what you went through, but from what I went through it was like I had no idea who I was anymore, it was like was trying to live up to someone who I didn't even know existed, that's why I promise that I will find a way to save you Index."

Touma then smiled at her.

Index then began to cry in Touma's arms as he held her, "Y-You're just saying that to act tough aren't you Touma."

Touma began to chuckle, "Maybe, but that doesn't change the fact that I will."

Index began to cry tears not of sorrow but of joy, "Now you're just trying to sound cool."

* * *

**Part 3**

**Gemstone Research Facility**

After everyone managed to calm down, they both explained to Index that they needed to get the cross to erase her memory in case they weren't able to find a way to save her in time. They then explained to her that they wanted to take her to the hospital, but Index refused since it would just instigate more violence from her friends, instead she decided to spend the last moments of her days with Mikoto while she did some research o her own in Tokiwadai. The library there was vast and was bound to have something that had to do with brain fever, and in the case, it didn't she always had another solution.

The moment Touma arrived at the Facility his mind didn't wander with a thought like, this place is big, or this place has a lot of security.

No, for in his mind he could only focus on one thing, How the hell was he going to talk himself out of this mess?

The moment he stepped in there she was in all her elegance, Kumokawa Seria.

From the way she smiled she didn't seem angry, but Touma was no fool, he knew all too well that a smile might be all that is holding back unyielding rage that was building up in a person.

Touma nervously waved his hand towards her as she approached him "Y-Y-Yeah senpai."

She gave up on her welcoming pose, crossed her arms to lift her ample chest from below, and spoke entirely casually. "My, My Kamijou-san, you are one rebellious child."

"W-W-Whatever are you talking about Senpai?"

"Follow me."

Touma nervously followed his senpai across the halls of the facility, he was so fixated about what excuse he was gonna give her that he completely ignored all the holes in the wall that were being repaired.

When the young Kamijou finally entered what he thought was going to be the execution chamber he looked around. The office was like any other office you'd see in a facility except It also contained a small cooler full of chocolate snacks, convenience store cake, and bottles of drinks. Manga magazines and a small bath TV were also scattered about. It looked as though she'd spent a majority of her time here.

"Feel free to take anything you find lying about."

"I-I'll pass."

Touma was actually eyeing the manga magazine on the counter since his own collection was all but lost in a fire started by that cruel, cruel magician, but he restrained himself, now wasn't the time to wasting on rebuilding his collection.

Now was a time for survival.

"Uh-Umm, Senpai? Are you mad?"

"No, why would I be?"

('Well let's see, Aiding and abetting, Lying to an officer, Knowingly endangering public welfare, Evidence tampering, but hey, at least I didn't litter!')

If Touma had more confidence in himself that is what he would have said, but instead, he stood there nervously smiling and hoping this would end.

Kumokawa sighed.

Anybody who had any common sense to them could tell that Kamijou was nervous, and not in the way she wanted him to be.

"Look Kamijou-san, rest assured you haven't done anything wrong," (Aside from Aiding and abetting, Lying to an officer, Knowingly endangering public welfare, Evidence tampering, but hey it's better than that Moron I usually deal with.)

"Really?" Touma's eyes filled with a hint of joy, he was gonna make it out alive without ruining his reputation in the process after all.

"I just have one question, why didn't you come in sooner?"

"!?"

"I mean I can understand if you didn't want to see me but-"

"No, No, No it's not that, it's just…. I thought this whole Gemstone thing would blow over eventually if I just never, you know, show up."

Kumokawa gave a look of concern towards Touma, "Kamijou-san as much as I'd love to help you out with that it's just not possible. If it was, the only Gemstone in Academy City would be Sogiita."

Touma sheepishly rubbed the back of his head.

"Do you know when Academy City founded the Gemstone Research Facility Kamijou-san."

"Umm no, when."

Kumokawa sighed as she went over to her desk, "The Facility was founded during the height of the Cold war between the United States and the Soviet Union, during that time both countries tried to jump-start their own Power Curriculum Programs to get ahead of the other, but since neither country could get their hands on Academy City's Formula they took drastic measures and started to experiment with the Gemstones that were among the populace. Let's just say the practices they used were less than humane."

"That's awful!"

Kumokawa nodded, "Academy City built this Facility as a haven of sorts for all Gemstones, It was supposed to be an example of what other institutions should look like, that's why we receive so much funding from foreign nations for practically doing no actual scientific research. Think of this place like the International community apologizing for what they did all those years ago. We don't actually do all that much in the way of pioneering the future, except for a few exceptions here and there. It's more of a place for Gemstones to feel safe than anything."

"Huh," Touma then started to look out of her office window smiling, "That's nice, so how many other Gemstones are there in Academy City?"

"Hmm, counting you only 4"

"Only 4! From the size of this building, I was thinking more like a couple of dozen! How come it's so big?"

Kumokawa then leaned back on her chair, "Well let's just say Academy City has plans ahead in case we get anymore Gemstones added to our ranks, better to be safe than sorry. Besides look at our lineup as it is, We have **2** Diamonds a Ruby and an Amethyst."

"I guess."

"In any case, do try your best and check in every now and again," Kumokawa then snapped her finger, "That reminds me I still haven't gotten you to sign any of you transfer documents!" She then pulled out a small stack of papers for Touma.

"What's all this?"

"Something to make it official, besides out of all the Gemstones in Academy City you especially need to sign it."

"Why's that?"

"You like having health insurance, don't you?"

Touma's eyes widen in horror as he realized what she meant. "No, you can't be serious! So that means…... I HAD TO PAY FOR THE DOCTORS OUT OF POCKET!"

In Academy City, everyone had healthcare, while a Level 0 Health Insurance wasn't much it sure as hell helped him pay all those hospital bills, but due to the fact that Touma was in between ranks his Health insurance was sadly canceled.

Touma blankly stared off into the distance, he could practically see the debt as it piled on. There was no way in hell he saved up anywhere near enough to pay for the hospital out-of-pocket including all the stuff he bought for Index.

He clenched his fist hard enough that he thought it would break, and he opened his eyes in such a ghastly expression it seemed tears of blood were going to start flowing from them.

He had already grown a bit tearful.

Then he spoke.

"SUCH MISFORTUNE!"

Kamijou Touma was in debt hell.

* * *

**Part 4**

After finally managing to calm down from the revelation that he would spend the rest of his summer paying off a debt that would no doubt grow to be as big as the United State's National Debt if left unchecked. Touma signed the necessary paperwork.

"Are you sure you're gonna be okay?" Kumokawa had spent the better part of 10 minutes calming Touma down, much to her delight.

"Y-Yeah, sorry about that, it's just…. I recently paid off all the debts I owe and now it seems I'm back to square one."

"Hey buck up, it's not as bad as it seems, with your new healthcare and allowance you should be able to pay off the debt in no time."

_Lies_

"Yeah, maybe you're right. My new allowance should help me pay off my debt in no time."

_It wouldn't._

"Sigh…. In any case Kumokawa-senpai, can you help me get in contact with Sogiita-san?"

Kumokawa simply went inside her desk drawer and pulled out the necklace in question, "Here you go."

"You had it with you the whole time?"

"No, I simply called Sogiita and had him bring me this, I already knew that you would show up because it's your modus operandi"

"?"

"It means I know you're a good person, and you would help out your friend."

"Ohh, Okay thanks for-" Touma went to collect the Necklace but soon realized that he couldn't actually touch it, "Umm actually senpai could you, I don't know put the necklace in a box or something?"

"Uhh, okay but, why?"

"Ohh it's just I don't want to get it dirty is all, it was a gift to Mikoto"

"..."

"..."

The room fell into a deep silence as Touma realized what he just said in front of her.

A small grin appeared on Kumokawa's face as she covered it with her hand, "Ara Ara" {Translation Oh My!}

"It's not what it looks like really!" Touma spat out trying to regain control of the situation.

His words fell on deaf ears though as Kumokawa went and got a small gift box to put the necklace into and handed it to Touma, "Good luck" She knew it wasn't true, but it sure as hell would piss of that brat.

"NO, IT'S NOT WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE! PLEASE SENPAI YOU'VE GOTTA BELIEVE ME! SENPAI!"

In the end, Touma got what he came for but, as a result…. That's a problem for Tomorrow, sorry future Kamijou.

* * *

**Part 5**

**Komoe-sensei's Apartment**

**Late Afternoon**

It took a while for Mikoto to get Index ready to head back to Tokiwadai, since this time she would be heading to the main campus and not just the Dorms. She had Index change out of her nun's robes much to her dismay and put on a spare Tokiwadai uniform she had borrowed from Kuroko to sneak her by, ironically they were almost the same size.

However, once they arrived Index's condition took a turn for the worst, and she started to faint. Thinking on her feet Mikoto fried every piece of electronic equipment in the area which included any students phones who were unlucky enough to be in that vicinity to create a distraction. In the end, Mikoto somehow managed to get Index and some books from Tokiwadai's library back to Komoe-sensei's apartment.

It was only by mere chance that they missed Komoe-sensei as she headed out for the night.

Index seemed to be fine at first as she changed her wardrobe but, as moments passed she began getting worse and worse.

It wasn't the prospect of getting sick that worried Index the most, it was the fact that Kamijou Touma had yet to arrive, she was worried that she'd fall asleep before seeing him again.

"I'm back! Index are you okay!?"

As Index laid on the futon she smiled.

Touma turned to and saw that the room was a mess with Textbooks and other research materials that cluttered the floor.

Mikoto who was by Index side continued to care for her as good as she could, given the circumstances.

"Her headache got worse when we got to Tokiwadai, we were barely there for 20 minutes before it got really bad."

Touma went over to feel Index's head.

It was burning hot.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine you're both here now…."

Even with facing the prospect of death, she continued to smile because her friends were there for her.

And like that Index fell asleep, with a soft smile on her face.

The two of them wanted to shout. They wanted to cry, but in the end, they didn't.

They decided to do everything that they could to save Index.

Touma then made a call that was never received and left a voice message that would be heard far too late to be of any help.

* * *

**Night**

Both students went straight to work reading every book Mikoto brought with them as if on the very next page the answer would be there. The only times they stopped were when they went to check on Index to make sure she was still okay. Neither of them truly knew what time it was as Komoe-sensei's apartment had no clocks, and truth neither of them wanted to know.

Both of them then heard a sound coming from the door.

"Hey, it seems we have visitors."

The door clicked open to show two familiar magicians.

The two of them seemed slightly relieved and saddened at the fact that they did not get to see Index when she was awake.

Mikoto's muscles naturally tensed up as they approached.

However, Touma's did not, he no longer had any reason to just fight Stiyl and Kanzaki. They were not "Evil Magic Cabal Forces," They were Index's friends.

As Touma looked over at them they were all but covered in bandages, save for Kanzaki who seemed fine.

"Heh. It looks like we won't have to worry about you if you decide to launch a surprise attack with those injuries." Touma joked but, he was secretly worried Kanzaki might attack them again.

Even if both enemy magicians attacked in sync it would not sway the results of the battle anymore in their favor for even if they won they wouldn't have enough energy to perform the ritual required to perform the spell.

Stiyl glared at the boy as he sat beside Index, "Where's the cross boy?"

It was just a moment, but Touma contemplated beating the hell out of him for just asking that question first and not _'Is she okay?'_

Touma bit his lip and pulled out the small box he had carried the cross in and proceed to open it showing them the contents.

In pristine condition, there it was.

And just like that, the magician took it out of his hands as though he had won.

"We simply wanted to see if the shackles we put on you showed you the reality of your situation. Now that it seems that you have learned, leave this place esper."

He then proceeded to shove Touma away with seemingly no effort as Touma let it happen.

He knelt down next to Index whose limbs were sprawled out limply. The magician then muttered something under his breath as his shoulder trembled.

Having gathered his resolve Stiyl stood up, his expression when he turned around was void of the slightest hint of humanity.

"I said to leave"

Mikoto was about to speak until she noticed the pale moonlight lighting up the room like sunlight shining through the leaves of a forest.

It was at that time that both Touma's and Mikoto's expressions turned pale, as they realized that the time was precisely midnight.

Their time was up.

Stiyl then turned to his partner, "Kanzaki, give me your help. We need to destroy her memories."

Touma knew that this was only meant to save her but, to him, it was as if they were about to push her into the depths of hell.

Without realizing it, Touma had begun clenching his fist hard enough to crack his nails.

He knew that they lost and hit Game Over but, even, so he wanted to continue.

"... Wait." Touma raised his head as he faced the magician. "Wait, please wait! Just a bit longer! This is Academy City, after all, we have tons of espers that can manipulate people's minds, If we just wait a little longer we might not have to rely on this horrible method!"

Stiyl said nothing as Touma continued to shout.

"You don't want to use this method either, right!? Deep down in your heart, you're praying that there is some other way, right!? Then just wait a bit longer. I'll make sure to find an ending where everyone is smiling and everyone is happy!"

Silence filled the room as everyone took a few seconds to absorb what Touma said.

"Is that all you want to say, you self-righteous failure?" Stiyl had not listened to a word that he said. He had processed them, and he had comprehended their meaning, but in the end, he didn't even flinch at his empty words.

Before Touma could say a word, he was grabbed by the hair and was pointed towards Index.

"Look! Can you say that to her! To Somebody who is in so much pain that they can't even open their eyes!"

At the sight of this Mikoto started to spark, she was a mere few feet away from Stiyl and could stop this without the slightest of effort.

As she was about to however she noticed, Index's fingers as they trembled. She desperately moved her hand that seemed as heavy as iron and tried to stop them from fighting. To Mikoto it looked like stopping them from fighting each other was more important than her own well being.

"If you can, then you truly are Broken!" Stiyl's shout stabbed Touma to his very core. "Answer me, are you so broken that you'd rather see her suffer!?"

It was at these words that the light that had filled Touma's eyes before was replaced with sorrow.

At the sight of this Stiyl let him go and let him fall to his knees as he turned to Kanzaki and began to speak.

Touma was too lost in his own mind to listen to what they had to say.

(It's over.)

'_My Name Index'._

(You can't save her.)

'_I don't want to forget either of you. I don't want to forget!'_

(You failed her)

'_I promise that I will find a way to save you Index.'_

Touma had to force himself not to shout. He could only stare up at the ceiling, grit his teeth and let tears he could not hold back fall from his eyes.

Without even looking at the boy, Stiyl spoke, "Leave, all you'd do now is ruin what little chance of survival she has left."

Touma then began talking to him while continuing to stare up at the ceiling, "Hey, How do you think I should say Goodbye?"

"I don't have time for this."

"I see" Touma replied void of emotion.

As Touma continued to sit there motionless, Stiyl began to shove him away from Index as he began drawing Runes on the walls.

Touma laid there on the ground with an empty look painted on his face as he reflected on his own powerlessness.

He didn't do anything to help Index get better, it was Komoe-sensei who performed the spell.

He didn't beat Stiyl alone if it wasn't for Mikoto who knows how that fight would've ended up?

And if it wasn't for Accelerator stepping up when he did, he would be the one in a coma right now, not him.

He was useless….

Kanzaki looked at him with a pained expression and said, "We still have 10 minutes until we perform the ceremony at 0:15."

Stiyl turned to her unsure if what he heard was correct.

"On the night we first swore to erase her memories, we spent the whole night crying by her side. Isn't that right, Stiyl?"

"..."

"We cannot perform the ceremony until the time is right. If he has any regrets left, he might try to stop us mid-ceremony, Stiyl."

Stiyl gritted his teeth. "You have 10 minutes. Okay!?"

He didn't say a word as he walked out of the room.

Now alone in the room, Kanzaki began to make her way towards them.

Kanzaki's eyes began to fill with sorrow as she stared at Index's defenseless kitten-like face.

She gently caressed her face as she silently said a prayer for her.

Once she finished she started to walk back towards the exit of the room.

"We were in the exact same position the two of you currently find yourselves in, and we understand no amount of apologizing would make up for what we did…. But, I know if he doesn't get to say goodbye to her that he'd end up regretting it for the rest of his life, you'll help him with that won't you?"

Mikoto nodded as she began wiping the tears away from her eyes.

Kanzaki gave a soft smile towards the two as she silently walked out of the apartment.

Mikoto began shoving at the motionless Touma to get up, "Kamijou you have to get up."

He did not move.

"Please, you can't just stay here, we both have to go see her." tears began welling up in Mikoto's eyes

At the sight of Mikoto's tears, Touma began to pick himself up, "I-I never got to give her an answer. I couldn't save her."

Mikoto then grabbed his arm and tugged both of them towards Index.

A few odd noises escaped Index's lips as she began to regain consciousness. As she opened her eyes she saw both of her friends around her.

"... Are you okay?" Index looked towards Touma as she asked this, she had completely forgotten about her own problems, instead, she worried about her friend who seemed as though they were in pain.

"... I'm sorry," Touma hung his head down in as he couldn't face her.

Index then began to look around the room. "Mikoto, there's some kind of magic circle in this room."

Just then the realization of what was happening came to her.

"Oh," said Index quietly and then all strength left her body.

"... I'm sorry, I'll get stronger. I will never lose again. I'll get strong enough to kick the asses of every last person who would treat you like this." He had no idea how he looked like in Index's eyes "... Just wait. Next time, I will make sure to truly save you."

Index than let out a small smile, "I understand. I'll wait."

Index knew full well of the situation, and the fate that would befall her but, even in the face of all of this, she still smiled.

Mikoto then began wiping the sweat off of Index's head "When you get better, why don't we all go to the beach, that way we can make all sorts of new memories."

Index smiled, "I'd like that."

"Then it's a promise."

They both knew these words held no true meaning, but even so, they continued on as though these words would help them. They wanted to comfort her and that's why neither of them shed a single tear.

Just then Index went to sleep.

Touma bit his lip hard enough to draw blood, "No…. I won't accept this ending".

Touma then got up from the floor.

"Kamijou, I don't like this any more than you, but there's nothing we can do about this _curse_ she has to endure."

As hopeless thoughts raced through his mind, Mikoto's words rang a bell in Touma's mind.

'_**Curse'**_

"Wait a second that's it!" Touma then ran back towards Index scanning her body.

"What're you doing?"

Touma turned to her with eyes full of determination "Mikoto I got it! We were thinking about this to scientifically and missed the obvious answer. It's not a Magical Brain Fever it's a curse! That means I can save her!"

She then began to help Touma search, "Wait if that's the case then it'll have to be somewhere that'd we'd never look."

At that moment both of their eyes met on the same location.

Index's mouth.

Touma gulped as he worked up the resolve to put his hand into Index's throat.

At the sight of this Mikoto looked away, "Be careful it looks like she's about to vomit."

"I know. I…... Wait I think I got something." He then felt a slight shock in his finger.

At the same moment, his right hand was blown forcefully backward. And Mikoto quickly chased after him.

It had felt like his wrist had been shot by a handgun. The ribs that were broken not a few days ago began to ache.

"Are you okay!?" Mikoto was in a panic.

"Yeah, I'm…. What the hell!?"

* * *

**Part 6**

Before the two of them, Index began floating in the air and her eyes had glowed red from magic circles that were on them.

***BOOM!***

Before either of them could react, Index had shot some sort of magical explosion at them causing them to fly into the bookshelf behind them, before making impact Touma cushioned Mikoto as to minimize the damage done to her.

When they made an impact a monsoon of pain washed into Touma's body as the planks making up the bookshelf were smashed apart by his back.

"**Warning: Chapter 3, Verse 2. All barriers for Index Librorum Prohibitorum collar from first to third have been breached. Preparing to regenerate...failed. The collar cannot self-regenerate. Switching priority to eliminating the intruder in order to protect the 103,000 archived grimoires."**

The two watched the light show as Index began flooding the room with some unknown light.

"I thought she couldn't use magic!"

"Well obviously she can, the church must've lied to them!"

"**Putting together an anti-intruder local weapon to expose the composition of the spell**." Index tilted her head like she was a corpse being controlled via strings as she turned to Mikoto. "**The Magic most suitable effective on this intruder has been found**," Her red eyes then turned to Touma, "**The magic expected to be most effective on the specific intruder has been calculated. Proceeding to activate the special magic known as **_**St. George's Sanctuary**_ **along with **_**St. Vincent de Paul Offerings**_ **to eliminate the intruders.**"

With a tremendous noise, the two magic circles in Index's eyes grew into 2-meter wide magic circles that were positioned directly in front of her.

She then sang something that was beyond human comprehension as the two magic circles around her eyes exploded.

The two of them watched as somehow it looked like space itself was being torn apart, creating a ripping sound in the atmosphere and forcing them back with the force of its generation.

Following a thundering clap that sounded similar to a glass wall shattering, dark cracks appeared on all the walls of the room. The cracks look like a turtle shell, appearing to act as a defense against anyone who happened to be close to Index. The inside of the cracks exhibits some sort of rippling effect, making a sound while growing outward.

Something that seemed to be pulsating swelled up from within the cracks. A beast-like scent wafted in from the slight opening created by the pitch black cracks.

It was then both of them understood.

This was not based on theory or logic. Nor was it based on reason or sense. Something like his base instincts were shouting it at them. They didn't know what exactly the thing within the cracks was. However, they knew that seeing it directly would be enough to destroy the two of them.

Touma was trembling in delight, he knew that if he could just beat this boss than he could save Index.

Before Touma could make a move the magic circles once again appeared in front of Index.

The Beams then moved sporadically around the walls as if it was like a stage light for a concert leaving burn marks wherever it landed.

"**Initiating St. Vincent de Paul Offerings"**

Just then bluish air began making its way across the room like a light fog.

It was if something was being added to it to change it.

That's when it hit both of them, it was mana.

The moment Mikoto's skin made contact with the fog she fell to her knees coughing up blood and holding her sides in agony.

***Shatter***

As quickly as the Fog appeared so to did it go away as Touma swatted it away.

Before Touma could go back to help Mikoto she yelled at him "G-Go!"

With that Touma ran head first towards Index. If he could touch her one more time he could bring an end to this story and save her.

He then clenched his right fist.

At the same time, the cracks spread all at once and opened releasing a pillar of light that shined so bright its only rival would be the sun.

***REVERB!***

There was no pain. And no heat when his hand came in contact with the pillar. It was like he was a drain and this was a never-ending fire hydrate pouring everything into it. It was a similar sensation when he absorbed Stiyl's Innocentius, it seemed to have no end in sight.

The Pillar of light began to contort in irregular shapes as it continued to try to annihilate him but, every time it looked like it was begging to thin, it gained its original shape and continued.

Due to the sheer force of the Pillar, it prevented Touma from moving a single step forward.

Touma put all of his force into his legs as he attempted to force his way forward.

Just then, the door behind them flung open to reveal the two magicians.

"Dammit, what are you doing!?" Stiyl started to shout, but his breath caught in his throat like he had been punched in the back.

"D-Dragon Breath? It can't be. And how is she using magic!?" Kanzaki's mouth gaped open at the sight of the pillar of light and of Index who had fired it, it looked as though her heart had stopped.

As much as Touma wanted to turn around to talk to them he couldn't, he only had one thing on his mind and that was to save Index.

"This is impossible…" Kanzaki had begun to step back before she felt someone tugging on her leg.

It was Mikoto, who while still coughing up blood never gave up fighting for Index.

"Cough…. You can save her…. Index...you can, can't you?" every breath hurt more than the last, but even so she kept speaking. "She can use magic…... Cough...Can't you see that they were lying to you?….Believe what you're seeing and help your friend or you'll be the ones regretting it for the rest of your lives."

Mikoto's grip loosened as her hand fell onto the floor to support herself from falling over.

The two magicians stared at Mikoto in awe.

**"St. George's Sanctuary is showing no effect against the intruder. Switching to another spell and continuing destruction of the intruder in order to protect the collar."**

It was at these words that both magicians knew that they'd been lied to. This was not the Index that they had known.

"Fortis931!" Stiyl bellowed, his teeth clenched so tightly that they felt like they would shatter from the force. From the depths of his cloak, legions of paper cards flew out. They were all marked with fire runes, they soon covered every inch of the ceiling, walls, floors, and even corners. Not one spot is left undisturbed. In order to save the girl named Index.

Touma then felt his hand on his shoulder "I do not need any vague possibilities. As long as I can erase her memories, I can save her life _for now_. I will kill anyone to accomplish that. I will destroy anything! That is what I decided long ago."

"Screw that _For now_ crap! Just answer me one thing, do you want to save Index's life!?"

Touma than breathed in once again as he took another step forward, "Because I know I will, I promised her that I'd save her! I know you both longed for this type of ending, an ending where Index doesn't have to forget about you and you don't have to make an enemy of her!"

Touma took another step forward, "Didn't you swear to save that girl with your own two Hands!? Quit waiting for some Main character hero to come to solve all your problems and do it yourselves!"

Touma then began to feel agony as his ribs felt like they were crushing themselves from all the pressure he's putting himself through.

Even with this, he continued to take another step forward, "You've always wanted to be the heroes, right!? To be the ones who save the girl and live happily ever after. If you stretch out your hand, you can reach it! Just do it already!"

"...**Salvere000!**"

***Nanasen***

Kanzaki's wires tore through the air and tangled Index's leg and pulled.

Index, still firing the 'Dragon's Breath', had no time to react. Falling backward, the crimson seals that were linked to her eyes followed suit. The pillar of light that was meant to stop Touma's approach was now redirected.

It was as if a giant sword being swung around, the pillar of light sliced through the wall and ceiling of the apartment. It even sliced through the pitch black clouds floating in the night sky. In fact, it could have even sliced through a satellite outside the atmosphere.

As if by instinct Touma's left hand closed as he touched it with his right.

***Shatter***

Suddenly they all looked up and saw it, dozens upon dozens of feathers. They came floating down, it looked as though those feathers made of pure light, were like winter snow on a summer night.

Kanzaki then screamed out to Touma "Those are the same as Dragon Breath, the strike of the legendary dragon of St. George! Whatever power they may have, I highly doubt the human body would react well to them!"

As Touma continued forward he noticed Index firing another Pillar of light towards him

***BOOM!***

"Innocentius!" A blast of heat erupts from beside Touma as Innocentius came roaring to life in front of Touma and shielding the blast.

"Go! Her time limit has already passed! If you want to do this, don't waste even a second!"

Touma smiled as he continued to run forward.

"**Warning: Chapter 6, Verse 13. New enemy confirmed. Changing combat considerations. ****Beginning scan of the battlefield...done. Focusing on the destruction of the most difficult ****enemy, Kamijou Touma."**

Index swung her head around the pillar of light and all, but as soon as she did Innocentius came in to block it.

Now that Index was defenseless he ran towards her.

Four more meters.

Three more meters!

Two more meters!

One more meter!

"Nooo! Above you!" Kanzaki yelled.

Touma could still tell that having even one of those feathers touch him would be very, very bad. But even so, he kept pressing forward not caring even if they did touch him.

* * *

**I'd suggest playing this song** '**Il mare Eterno Nella mia anima'**

* * *

Maybe it was the way the wind blew that night that the feathers fell as they did, but once Touma was a foot away from Index a lone feather came and landed on his right leg as he ran.

***Crack***

In a single instant, every bone in his leg shattered.

Even while in unyielding agony Touma did not stop, he used the momentum he had been saving up and lunged his body towards Index.

As Touma clenched his right fist he swung it down to shatter this hopeless illusion that this cursed has caused.

***SHATTER!***

"**...Warning: Final...Chapter, Verse Zero... The collar has received fatal...damage...****Regeneration...impossible...gone."**

Touma's body tackled Index to the ground as he was unable to stop himself in time.

There he was holding Index surrounded by the snow like feathers as they fell.

Touma wanted to cry in agony from the pain. He wanted to move his hands around to protect himself but, the pain kept him from doing so, he could feel his entire body going numb from shock.

As he looked up, he saw the feathers of light as they cascaded around him.

In a way, they looked beautiful almost like something you'd see in a dream.

It was fitting for this kind of ending.

Touma thought he heard someone shout for him but ignored it.

He then leaned over Index to protect her from the incoming feathers.

Touma had an earnest smile painted on his face as he looked down at Index and spoke to her as if she could listen, "It's okay Index I'm not scared, I'm not trying to act tough or sound cool, I feel happy... I feel like I've been redeemed some, you know?"

Touma then felt Index move slightly in his hands. "Touma?"

As Index looked up she saw Touma over her smiling, "We did it Index. We saved you."

Index could feel something was off, but her fatigue kept her from staying conscious long enough to press further, her fears were put to ease when Touma sincerely smiled towards her, "You know I never got to answer your question Index, I'm sorry that it took me so long to get to it but….Yes Index, I'll follow you to the depths of hell. But only so we can both leave together. And when we both make it out, why don't we try rebuilding together? Wouldn't that be nice?"

It may have been how the moonlight glistened around him.

It might have been how the feathers fell behind him.

But it that one moment.

In Index's eyes, Kamijou Touma truly looked like an angel.

Index smiled back as she drifted off to sleep in his arms.

Even while knowing what was to come next, he never stopped smiling as he looked over her.

As the feathers continued rain around him he began to feel himself dosing of from the pain.

"Index Goodb…..Goodnight Index."

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

***Biri Biri***

Dozens of feathers of light floated down like snowflakes towards his body.

Even so, Kamijou Touma smiled as he drifted off to the darkness.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

"Kamijou!"

.

.

.

.

**Good Night Kamijou Touma**

* * *

**Epilogue**

**July 28**

**Early Morning**

**Accelerator's Hospital room**

As he began to open his eyes the light that shined in from the window blinded him.

"Ahh, what the hell, my head's killing me."

He then heard the door creak open and saw a Frog faced doctor walk in.

"Oh, you're finally awake. That's good I'm your doctor, you've been out some time you know."

Accelerator looked at him dumbfounded, "What?" He couldn't comprehend that he looked like a frog and thought he was still dreaming.

"Just a heads up, this hospital is going to have quite a few visitors, so you best stay in your room if you want some _peace and quiet_."

Those words rang inside of his head like an air horn as he remembered, "What happened to the idiot that I was with?"

* * *

**Kamijou Touma will return.**


	20. Chapter 20 Memories of You

**Thanks for reading a Certain Scientific Counter. I'm sorry for the delay but, I had to catch up on Game of thrones…...Also did you see the image for New Testament Reverse V22, It's pretty nice. Now I would like to give a Thank for my Beta-Reader Graeskog for helping me edit this. Now without further ado Q&A.**

**Tsun- But cliffhangers make you come back for more. And you'll see.**

**Xperior- Yes big oof indeed.**

**Nameless- There in a first base relationship that could easily go second if Touma wasn't so much of a Gentlemen. And we'll see.**

**Awardedall- And Thank you for the comment.**

**Grendel3130- Aiding and embedding, Spell check can be a cruel mistress.**

**Anti-Mage 29- Cliffhangers? If you want to blame anyone blame Animan10 he was the one who got me into making things have cliffhangers. And you'll find out…...right below.**

**Aminadab Brulle- HA HA HA HA! She doesn't even have her own tag that's so sad. I mean she has her own side story. In any case, she's staring in another chapter in the future.**

**BlueJack22- Thank you I always like to write the finaly, for the arc in a touching way and when I listened to the song it just came to me.**

**Nguyen Thanh Long- How can you be so sure? And that's a great idea. I can see it now.**

**Nihatclodra- Amnesia…...I don't remember?**

**Fortitude501- Due to the fact that Heaven Cancellers track record includes saving someone who's body literally exploded and giving someone an entirely new body, I doubt it. But the cyborg's leg is a cool idea.**

**Rajarshi Sarkar- All great art is received with mixed emotions so it's all right. New powers in his leg? Since when does becoming a cripple result in you getting superpowers, you know aside from most superheroes and Accelerator. And I'm back.**

**Nameless- Touma is an angel personality wise and Misaki is lucky, He's not though.**

**Chris- Japanese Superman! The Gutsiest hero in all of Japan! Nice recap and thanks for the comment.**

**Yakutsu Zaishiro- Gold Experience Requiem- Return To Zero!**

**Graeskog- Thank you for the review. And yeah his track record's pretty solid when it comes to injuries. The Lighter will prove to shed some light on something. And Tree Diagram…...you'll see.**

**Savior555- Don't know, I thought of it when I saw the last chapter of Astral buddy and saw him straight up fly.**

**Savior555- No problem.**

**Nice recap and we'll get more information about the lighter in future chapters. And yeah Index cares for all her friends in her own way. And yeah I'm leading into something bigger when it comes to the Gemstones. The mana injured Misaka because AIM fields and Mana aren't compatible with each other and the spell she used took advantage of that.**

**And thank you I tried to show how far and good the relationship Index and Touma have with each other, he'd go to hell and back for his friends. And no worries the song I used was Ceaser's death theme. And does Accelerator ever get peace and quiet? Thank you and I like big reviews.**

**paradoxReader- We'll see….and the second princess huh? I already have a rough idea on how that arc will work, so you'll just have to wait and see. And Thank you. And when Othinus finally shows up….**

**BorderLand- Yeah she's good at reading people like most teachers. And yeah he does have a type.**

**Kdburke2- Wow that's like 176k words in one go. Nice. And thank you for the compliment.**

**BorderLand- Yeah…...they never really stood a chance, he straight up shattered those Illusions of theirs.**

**BorderLand- Nice idea and ….you'll just have read below.**

**Memories of You**

**July 28**

**Part 1**

**2:00 PM**

**Touma's Hospital Room**

"Tch! What happened to this idiot?"

As Accelerator looked over he could see pure white bed he laid in. The walls, floor, and ceiling were all pure white, it threw off his sense of distance, making the room seem oddly large.

The window next to the bed was open and the pure white curtain fluttered a bit letting in some of the sun's rays.

Even though the sun's light bathed the boy's face, he did not move.

The frog-faced doctor sighed as he replied, "When he was admitted most if not all of his bones were broken or heavily fractured. The only reason he didn't die of shock at the scene was due to the fact that most of his nerves were so heavily damaged that they weren't able to transfer any more signals to his brain."

Accelerator then went over and examined the monitor that read his EKG. For all intent's purposes, they read as normal. Which was odd, to say the least after what the doctor had just described to him.

"Well, gotta say doc, you're either one hell of a doctor or just a bad liar."

The doctor simply chuckled at this, "Thank you for the compliment but, for now, he's in a coma along with the girl that was brought in with him"

"!? What girl!? Wait a minute, when the hell did this happen?" He was under the assumption that this occurred when he was last with him.

"Hmm...somewhere around after midnight, they were joined by three people who didn't have an ID, that was quite the surprise in and of itself."

"Hmm" Accelerator looked to be deep in thought.

(Three people? I can assume 2 of those were the people we fought before but, who's the third?)

"In any case, you seem to be his first visitor of the day."

"Seriously?" He seemed more surprised than anything, he would've assumed that he had more friends than this.

The doctor nodded, "We tried to contact the people on his emergency contact list but, they never answered," The doctor then looked down the hallway to another room, "The same can't be said for the girl that was brought with him, however."

"Tch whatever, do you have any idea when this idiot will wake up? I got a few questions that need answering."

"I'm not too sure when your friend will wake up, we had to put him in a medically induced coma as to not risk him dying along with pumping him with a considerable amount of anesthesia, if I were to hazard a guess then it would have to be somewhere around late afternoon or early evening. "

Accelerator than narrowed his eyes, "He's not my buddy, he's just some guy I met a couple of days ago, that reminds me, how long was I out for?"

"4 days"

(4 days, huh)

"In any case, do have you anything you'd like to say to your friend before you go?"

Accelerator rolled his eyes at this, "Got nothing to say to a guy who can't even bother to wake up and listen."

The doctor sighed, "Alright, then if you don't mind can go back to your room to discuss your condition."

"Fine"

* * *

After having the doctor explain all the damage that was inflicted unto his body he was quite, skeptical to say the least. To be fair this would be the normal reaction to anybody who heard that their liver had the beginning stages of Cirrhosis and was healed in just one hospital stay.

The rest of the conversation was as to be expected a basic overview of his general welfare and such. There was also the issue of his hospital bill, he had no health insurance, so he would have to pay out of pocket.

This was no problem for him as Accelerator had allowed his body to be used in many different projects in the past. All the money had simply been thrown into his bank account without being used, so this was not an issue from a monetary perspective.

What was the problem was the fact that he was actually hurt in the first place? The reason why he didn't have health insurance was that he never saw the need to get it. Nobody could even scratch him let alone send him to the hospital and yet here he was.

He didn't know what to make of it anymore. Originally he had a hard time believing Touma when he claimed he could negate any esper ability, but now there were people claiming to be able to wield magic. Though headstrong he was, he had to consider every possibility since at the end of the day he was hurt.

(No, that's impossible)

This didn't last too long since his Scientific mind simply couldn't accept the existence of magic.

He had long ago disregarding any sort of fantasy perspective and accepted the reality as the cold place that it is.

As he laid there on the bed in his private hospital room, he waited for time to move on, so he could ask that guy some questions, that's when he heard knock on his door.

He was surprised, to say the least, mostly due to the fact that he had no idea who it could be.

When he opened the door he was met with a small package. It looked as though it was dropped off by a courier of some sort.

At the same time he opened his door he could also hear some girl wailing from the other side of the hallway.

"ONEE-SAMA!"

He could feel his ears burn as the girl's scream carried over as though she was screaming directly into his ear.

Was this because the hospital hallways had great acoustics or just because that girl's voice was just so powerful.

Whatever the answer was Accelerator slammed the door shut as to shield himself from the wailing.

"Tch! Freaking brats"

When he opened the package, he greeted by a burner cell that had a pre-recorded message on it.

Accelerator laid down on his hospital bed as he read the message.

_**July, 27-Due to unforeseen circumstances revolving around the subject Accelerator's health, recalculations have been done using Tree Diagram, Project Level 6 Shift is to be postponed until August 15. Until then all experiments are henceforth postponed.**_

Once he read the message, he looked out the window of his room and towards the sun.

He had no idea what to do anymore, his life used to revolve around the project and now it was postponed.

"Tch. Whatever."

He didn't know what he was feeling at that point in time but, in a small way, he felt relief that it was postponed.

He just didn't know why.

* * *

**Kamijou Touma's Hospital Room**

**Visitor: ? ?**

As she walked and saw him lying motionless on his bed she couldn't help feeling relief in a way.

It had been so long since she had last seen him face to face that she didn't know what to say.

What would he say if he saw her like this?

As she leaned over his body her wavy chocolate colored hair covered his face so that if he were to wake up now the first thing he would see would be her face as she smiled towards him.

But as all things must come to an end, so did this.

She sighed, as slowly removed her gloves that were covering her hands as she placed one on his temple and placed her forehead on his.

She wondered what he felt as it happened.

Did he feel

Sadness

Relief

Anger

Whatever it was, she had long ago learned to never assume what other people feel.

She then saw something lying by his bedside table that made her furious.

A lighter made of pure gold. It looked as though it was run over multiple times as it was dented from head to toe with cracks all around it.

Even just glancing at it made her think of that person.

In a fit of anger, she reached over him to grab the lighter and threw it out the window.

As the anger subsided she went into her purse and pulled out a syringe and proceed to gently inject him with its contents.

It was harmless for now but, if he were to do that to his head than it wouldn't be.

"I'm sorry Touma but, for now, this is for your own good."

She then gently caressed his face, "I promise that I'll see you soon ✩"

As she walked out of the room she could hear the screams of some girl wailing.

"ONEE-SAMA!"

"It seems that she finally woke up too~"

* * *

**Part 2**

**Mikoto Hospital Room**

As she slowly opened her eyes she could vaguely make out the people watching her.

That's when she heard it.

"ONEE-SAMA!"

Like a banshee, Kuroko's cry came in full blast towards the poor electromaster's eardrums.

The whole room, in fact, winced at this.

"Wha- Where am I?"

As she rubbed her eyes she could see more clearly now, there around her bed were her friends.

Kuroko had her eyes filled with tears, while Uiharu Saten had looks of concern painted on their faces.

As Mikoto slowly turned her head she could see Index sitting there by her bed, it looked as though she'd been there the whole night.

"Mikoto you're awake!"

"Index what happened?"

"THAT'S WHAT I LIKE TO KNOW!" Kuroko once again roared, "You were gone the entire night, I was so worried and then I find out that you were in the hospital!" Kuroko then pushed Index aside as she grabbed her hand and pointed towards Index, "This one over here wouldn't tell us a thing, saying that she didn't know what happened."

"B-But, I really don't know, I woke up only a few hours ago."

"S-Shirai-san, take it easy, Index was just as worried as you were." Uiharu tried in vain to calm her down.

"Then why didn't you call any of us when you found out my precious Onee-sama was injured!"

Index looked sheepishly at the ground, "B-But, I don't know how to use a phone and-"

_***Biri Biri***_

As Kuroko laid there convulsing on the ground Mikoto turned to Index.

"It's okay Index, you didn't do anything wrong," She then looked over at Kuroko, "Lay off her would you?"

The only reply she was able to give from her smoldering body was a thumbs up.

"M-Misaka-san, if you don't mind what did happen? I mean Shirai-san called us telling us that you were in the hospital for internal bleeding."

(So that's what happened)

Panic then began to form on her face as she remembered who else was there with her that night.

"Index, do you know what happened to him!?"

Index continued to look at the ground unable to look her in the eyes, "T-Touma won't wake up, I tried everything but, he won't wake up."

Mikoto's face grew ghastly pale and she started having tears form in her eyes "!? I-I-Index are you saying h-he's d-"

Index frantically waved her arms in denial, "N-NO! Touma's not dead! The Gekota doctor just said that he was in a coma!"

The color began to slowly come back to her face as she sighed in relief. "Thank god."

"Uhh, Misaka-san?" Her friends all looked at her unsure what to make of what just happened.

Mikoto looked at their faces unsure what to tell them.

(Should I really tell them what happened? Chances are there not gonna let up unless I give them some sort of explanation but, should I?)

After a long silence, Kuroko rose from the ground, "We were all scared Onee-sama when I got here and saw you laying in the hospital bed I-I" Kuroko then had small tears forming in her eyes.

"Mikoto, it's alright." Index then nodded to her.

"Okay…...This might take a while."

* * *

After explaining to them the existence of magic they were all visibly shocked, except for Saten who looked more excited than anything now knowing that some urban legends were really true. Though once she explained to them the fate that befell to Index every year and how her own friends made themselves her enemies, they all showed their own version of sympathy towards the poor girl with Kuroko even apologizing for her actions.

Saten then pulled out a package and handed it to Mikoto, "I-It's some clothes, the doctor said yours were covered in blood."

Mikoto gave off a small smile "Thanks, I'd rather not walk around in a hospital gown."

"What's the last thing you remember Misaka-san?" Uiharu asked

"Well, I remember when Index transformed and….. how I was completely useless…."

Mikoto looked at the floor downtrodden.

"Onee-sama…..I'm sure you did everything you could." Kuroko tried to reassure her, but she wasn't buying it.

"No, you're wrong! I was about to give up, if it wasn't for him then Index probably would've gone through with it…..I didn't even last 10 seconds before….." Mikoto then clutched her side as she could still remember the burning sensation she felt and how unbearable it was.

"***sigh*** The last thing I remember was lying on the ground, I saw a feather fall on his leg and he fell….I remember trying to yell at him to get away as more feathers came falling down but he couldn't hear me, I tried to crawl over but something grabbed me, so I did the next best thing, I used the pins on Index's robes to try and drag them over."

"What happened next?"

"I don't know, that's when everything went dark and I could hear her scream his name."

Uiharu then looked around, "Where is Kamijou-san?"

"He's still sleeping, the doctor said he wouldn't wake up until the evening….I tried to go visit him but….."

Index then felt a hand on her shoulder, "Don't worry," Mikoto then began to get up from the bed, "Let's go see him"

"O-Onee-sama, are you sure you should be getting up so soon!?"

"Y-Yeah Misaka, I mean you just woke up!?"

Mikoto smiled at her friend's concerns, "It's okay I feel fine"

For all intents and purposes, Mikoto was fine, aside from some lingering pain from having her blood vessels burst.

As they all walked down the hallway they all finally reached his door.

However, before they managed to actually open it they were stopped by the same frog-faced doctor that treated Misaka.

"More visitors I see."

"!? He already had someone visit him?"

"Hmmm, more or less but, in any case, I can't have all of you go in there at once, at most I and can let 4 people in at one time," He then turned to Mikoto, "Besides I still haven't talked to you about your condition yet."

Mikoto chuckled, "Yeah sorry about, that you guys go ahead without me."

"Are you sure Misaka?"

"Yeah"

And with that Index and the rest of them entered Touma's room leaving Mikoto.

"So, what exactly happened to me?"

The doctor took out his clipboard and started sifting through his papers, "Well a majority of your blood vessels burst, in fact, we even had to take out your appendix."

Mikoto then went to look at her stomach and saw no scar "Wow, and not even a scar, you're good."

"Ha, who do you think I am, now while you don't have any permanent injuries I recommend not overexerting yourself for at least a day or two."

"Got it, is there anything else?"

The doctor then pulled out two letters from his coat pocket and handed it to her, "Yes, the people who brought you in wanted me to give these to you, one was addressed to you while the other was addressed to your friend."

After getting over the initial shock of actually having them write to her, she opened her letter and saw that it only had 4 words written on it.

**_'Come to the Roof'_**

* * *

**Part 3**

**A Certain Hospital Roo**f

After going to her room and changing Mikoto headed straight to the roof

The moment she entered the roof of the hospital she saw the saint known as Kanzaki, waiting for her patiently as she leaned on the fence.

Kanzaki raised an eyebrow, "You took longer than I expected. How are you feeling?"

"Confused, what the hell happened last night?"

Kanzaki then looked at the clear blue sky, "Do you remember the fog that touched you yesterday?"

Mikoto nodded.

"Well that was the spell known as **_St Vincent de Paul's Offering_**, it's a spell that is mainly used for support, St Vincent de Paul was a Saint associated with charity and as such his likeness was used to bestow you with the charity of Mana."

"Mana? I think I've heard of that term in some video games. It's like an energy system, right?"

Kanzaki nodded, "Precisely, in normal cases, it would be beneficial for people giving them increased vitality and helping them heal by giving them Mana to perform a healing spell automatically, however in the case of you espers it's a deadly curse. Mana is incompatible with espers and as such, it results in injury if one such as yourself were to use it. So, the spell itself is paradoxical since it goes against St Vincent de Paul's teaching, I still don't know how she managed to circumvent the consequences of using that spell in a manner such as that."

Mikoto then clutched her side, "Okay, but what happened to him"

Kanzaki stared mutely at Mikoto, her hands balling into tight fists, "When the feather landed on his leg…...you tried to go after him yourself but, I stopped you since it would've been suicide if I had let you go in there. I suspect he knew that as well and used his own body to shield Index from the impact, even as I held you down you continued to struggle. You even let out a shock towards Index pulling them closer to us."

"..."

"...But in the end that didn't stop the feathers from falling on him, once it was all over we were sure that he was dead. No ordinary human could withstand that much punishment to their body but, somehow he did. Granted, his body was in complete disarray, but in the end, he lived. And after that, I carried both of you to this hospital while Stiyl did the same for Index."

"So that's what happened, thanks for bringing us here."

"It was the least that we could do after Kamijou-san kept his word and saved Index."

Kanzaki then had a serious expression on her face, "When we reported that the collar that was placed on Index was destroyed we were ordered to bring Index back immediately due to the fact that she might still be able to use magic."

Mikoto's muscles instantly tensed up.

"Rest easy, I have no intention of taking Index away from you….at least not yet anyway."

Mikoto looked puzzled, "What's that supposed to mean? And why is Index being able to use magic a big deal anyway? Is it really that bad?"

Mikoto didn't know why Index being able to use magic was such an issue.

Kanzaki had a serious expression on her face as she answered. "Very, If she can use magic and has all 103,000 Grimores at her disposal she would be as dangerous as a Magic God, and if that happens well…." Kanzaki looked visibly conflicted.

"Wait, won't you get in trouble for not bringing in Index?"

Kanzaki's expression eased, "Yes and No, while yes going against a direct order is heavily prohibited if there are extenuating circumstances there are some exceptions."

"What're you talking about?"

Kanzaki smiled, "It seems that I had incurred so much damage from the fight I had with Kamijou-san that I was unable to fulfill the order."

"!? Wait so you lied?"

"No, the Church lied to us when they said Index was sick, this was just an exaggeration. The truth of the matter is I did suffer massive injuries from Kamijou-san and his friend, all I did was give Kamijou-san most of the credit in my defeat, so I could get the result that I wanted."

"I still don't know what you're talking about."

Kanzaki then tossed a thick envelope at Mikoto which she caught.

"When I lost in my fight between Kamijou-san and his friend many things happened behind the scene. The peace between the Magic and Science side is a delicate thing and something as dramatic as an Esper being able to defeat a Saint wouldn't go unnoticed and probably would've started a larger conflict if not handled correctly. That's why we were fortunate enough to have Kamijou-san there as well."

"What does he have to do with any of this?"

"He's one of the Talented ones, a precursor to both Science and Magic and as such he shows himself to be a type of political quagmire since neither side can truly claim dominion over the Talented ones he falls under neither of the sides true scope. Due to this, when I said Kamijou-san was the one who defeated me it caused a problem for both sides."

Kanzaki then smiled again, "Due to the fact that I claimed to defeat the esper while losing to him, both sides were forced to come to an agreement to keep the peace, Index is to be safeguarded by the boy Kamijou Touma _**The Saint Destroyer**_."

Mikoto's mouth gaped open, "Saint Destroyer?"

Kanzaki chuckled, "I got the name from some of my old comrades, when Kamijou-san hit me with the energy from his left hand I was unable to move whatsoever for the longest period of time, whatever energy he hit me with completely disrupted the flow of my mana and I was unable to fully recover until earlier today when I purged the last of it out of me."

"Purged?"

"I would talk to Index about that, I'm not as well versed in Mana theory as she is. There's also one other thing I would like to talk to you about, your involvement with magic, I assume Stiyl already told you."

Mikoto nodded, "Yeah he told me to get lost."

"He's not completely wrong. Your involvement with magic has shown to be a bigger problem than you think. The small concession over you almost made the peace talks completely break down."

"I'm not just walking away from this, not after everything he did to save her."

"I can respect that esper, that is why I recommended you be Index's Science Guardian."

Mikoto raised her eyebrow, "Guardian"

"The agreement both sides came to was that Index was to be safeguarded by Kamijou and with that he has some autonomy in which he can ask for assistance from the Science side. Though this only applies when it falls under the purview of protecting Index, anything else and it would run the risk of causing problems"

"Wait. So, who is the Magic side's Guardian?"

"There is none. Because espers are incapable of using the Grimoires only they be trusted to safeguard Index. However, due to this relationship, the Magic Side is able to call upon Index whenever they feel it is necessary."

"So, they actually fell for that?"

Kanzaki shook her head, "Not at all, but the archbishop made the smartest move given the situation, would she rather have had 3 unruly subordinates or a new asset. While they didn't fully believe me when I said that Kamijou defeated me, they did see the value of having someone like him as an asset. While it's not ideal it's the best that I can offer."

Mikoto smiled, "It's plenty thank you," She then open the envelope and saw that it was filled with Money, "Uhh, what's this?"

"That's for Index, I know it isn't much but, it's the least I can do for her," She then leaped from the ground effortlessly and landed on the top of the chain link fence, "Give Kamijou my best."

And with that, she was gone.

Now alone on the roof, Mikoto couldn't help but feel a bit annoyed at that.

* * *

**Part 4**

**2:30 PM**

**Tokiwadai Middle School Library**

"_***Yawn***_ Are we done yet?" asked Misaki.

For the past few days she had helped organize the Midsummer Festival for Tokiwadai, In fact, they were supposed to be finished yesterday if it wasn't for a freak power outage caused by a certain Electromaster.

"Almost my Queen,"

Misaki then started to pout, " Honestly what was she thinking when she fried every electrical appliance in the vicinity,"

"I-I'm sure she had her reasons" The girl didn't seem too sure of herself, while she had respect for The Ace of Tokiwadai she couldn't fathom why she would do something like this.

Misaki simply rolled her eyes, "In any case, where's Junko with my new phone?"

"S-She should be here any minute now. Your particular brand of phone isn't commonly found around here, along with the fact that she has to transfer over all of the information from your broken phone to your new one."

In truth Miskai was just bored, she'd rather be doing something else than this, most of the things that they were doing now, was just copying down what had been lost the previous day. Not the most entertaining thing in the world.

As the minutes rolled by, she could feel herself get antsier since today was the day that Touma was supposed to tell her what he'd been hiding from her.

The only reason Misaki gave him the 3 days he asked for was that it was the only favor that he ever asked of her during their entire relationship, so she couldn't in good conscious just deny it.

He had given her so much and yet asked for nothing in return, and even when asking for a favor it never benefited him just others like his friend. He was truly a Prince.

She grimaced remembering the pain in Accelerator's mind.

While she didn't like the fact that Touma associated himself with him, she had learned in the past that those who he calls friend would usually turn out to be a redeemable person, she could only hope that it was true in this case too.

She then turned her head to see Junko coming in with her new phone in hand.

"My Queen, you seem to have some missed calls."

* * *

_**Kamijou Touma's Hospital Room**_

_**3:00 PM**_

_**Visitor: Index, Saten, Uiharu, Shirai**_

"So that's him huh?" Saten mused. "I only saw him the one time and I never got to ask him any questions either, it's ironic, isn't it. He saved me from a coma and now here he is in his own," Saten then had a downtrodden look on her face. "It's like some sick joke."

"I know what you mean," Uiharu then looked at the open window by his bedside. "He's so nice and yet something so awful happened to him."

"Hmph," Kuroko had mixed emotions about the boy. On one hand, he saved Index but on the other, he's the reason why Mikoto was injured in the first place. "He brought this on himself, he knew that something like this was going to happen the moment he got himself involved, and yet he did so anyway. Whether that's because he's so damned prideful or his sense of justice is that strong, I couldn't say but, he didn't have to drag Onee-sama into this too."

Index winced at this, "I-I'm sorry…"

"No it's not your fault Index, I'm sure Onee-sama would've gotten involved one way or the other, it's his fault because he kept it to himself and didn't ask for more help."

Uiharu then turned to Shirai "Like you're on to talk Shirai-san, I've seen you run headfirst into danger plenty of times completely disregarding Judgement protocols."

"That's different, I was held accountable at the end of the day, him on the other hand-"

As their conversation continued Index continued to sit on the chair by the misfortunate boy's bed.

She didn't know what to say to him once he woke up. He had done so much for her.

Index while having an eidetic memory and having more knowledge about magic than most magicians in the world still lacked life experience. This was because she lost so many years of her life due to her memories being erased.

"Thank you, Touma, for everything."

She then felt a hand on her shoulder and saw Saten.

"Hey you know when he wakes up he's gonna be hungry, why don't you go get him something from the cafeteria?"

"T-That's a good idea," Index sniffled, "But what if he wakes up before than...and...and" Tears then started to pour from her eyes.

"Hey, Hey what's wrong?" Saten tried to comfort her.

At the sight of this, both Uiharu and Kuroko stopped arguing.

"I-I-I'm scared that Touma's gonna lose his memories again!?" Index wailed.

"!? I-Index calm down, what're you talking about?"

"Dragon's breath is an army killing spell…..If even one feather touched his head than…."

Saten than hugged Index, "Don't worry, I'm sure he's fine" In truth, she wasn't. In fact, from the way, Mikoto described how the feathers fell it was most likely that one might have ended up touching his head.

"Index-san, what do you mean again?" Shirai asked.

Between sniffles, she answered, "Touma told me that he lost his memories a while ago….I could tell from the way he looked that it really hurt him….if he lost them all again then I...I"

Sympathies came to him from everyone in the room after that as they all understood why he did what he did.

It was because he knew what it felt like to lose something so precious and didn't want this girl to face that again.

Uiharu then scanned the room, "Hey Shirai-san, the doctor said we were his first real visitors, right?"

"Yeah, why?"

Uiharu had a look of mixed emotions on her face.

_(Where is she?)_

Saten then began to lead Index out of the room gently, "Come on, I'll help you make something for him, and don't worry even if by some misfortunate accident Kamijou-san does lose his memories we'll help him make new ones."

Index seemed to perk up from these words.

_'And when we both make it out, why don't we try rebuilding together? Wouldn't that be nice?'_

"Okay." She then wiped the tears away from her eyes and took Saten' hand to follow her out of the room.

A few minutes after Index and Saten were out of the room, Shirai turned to Uiharu and narrowed her eyes.

"What do you know?"

"W-Whatever do you-" She was abruptly cut off by a hand on her shoulder.

"You can either tell me now, or you can tell me in front of the crying nun, either way, Uiharu you will tell me."

Uiharu tried to avert her eyes but every time she did Shirai would just move into her line of sight.

"I-I can't I promised!"

"Well, I also promised that I'd protect Onee-sama from any danger and yet here we are, so spill."

Uiharu continued to jerk her head around stubbornly. "N-No!"

"Fine"

Suddenly the two of them found themselves in front of the Saten and Index in the middle of the cafeteria.

"Hey guys, Uiharu here has a secret about Kamijou!" Her declaration was received with universal shock as both of them turned their eyes to Uiharu.

"Shirai!"

Index then grabbed Uiharu's hand.

"Please," Uiharu could see the genuine pleading in her eyes, all she wanted was to help the one who saved her.

Only a cold-hearted monster could deny this poor sister's request.

Something that Uiharu wasn't.

* * *

**Part 5**

**Kamijou Touma's Hospital Room**

**3:20 PM**

**Visitor: Mikoto**

As Mikoto neared the door she could swear that she heard someone talking on the other side but when she opened the door she found no one other than that boy.

_(I guess it was just my imagination.)_

As she sat there by his bedside, she couldn't help but feel a bit of shame.

"I-I'm sorry that I wasn't any help. I couldn't even save you from the feathers and now you're like this."

She didn't notice the boy's eye twitch.

"You know, when I first met you I didn't know what to make of you,"

She didn't notice as the boy's eyes slowly peek open.

"But now that I got to know you, I feel like I really Li…***sigh***" Even under the assumption that he was in a coma, she couldn't admit that to his face.

"Thanks for everything, Touma."

"Your welcome."

Mikoto's eyes then shot open.

_**Red Alert! Red Alert!**_

_**MELTDOWN IN**_

_**3**_

_**.**_

_**2**_

_**.**_

_**.**_

_**1**_

"AHHHHHHHHHHH! WHAT THE HELL!"

"AHHHHHHHH! WHY ARE YOU SCREAMING!"

"WHY AREN'T YOU STILL IN A COMA!"

"WHY DO MAKE IT SOUND LIKE YOU WISHED I WAS STILL IN A COMA!?"

After calming down Mikoto's gaze turned to him, "How much did you hear?" Her voice was ice cold.

"When you said I'm sorry, Why?"

He did not see the danger.

_***Biri Biri***_

"Well do you have any last words?" She had a twisted smile on her face, "BEFORE I KILL YOU!" Bluish-white sparks of electricity started exploding around her.

He saw the danger.

"AHHH! PLEASE MIKOTO DON'T KILL ME! I HAVE SO MUCH TO LIVE FOR! I NEVER EVEN GOT A GIRLFRIEND!"

The nurse rang the call button, but no one dared show up to answer it.

Unable to lift even his arms the boy named Kamijou Touma was screwed.

"JUST MY LUCK!"

* * *

After putting the fear of Raijin in Touma she began to calm down.

"So, what's the last thing you remember anyway," Mikoto sighed heavily, "Touma."

Touma chuckled, "Well everything is a bit hazy, but I remember you telling me to go and then everything seemed to cut out until I got over to Index. By the way where is she? Did she….you know?"

"Don't worry she's fine," Mikoto than sincerely smiled, "You did save her after all."

A huge wave of relief flowed over Touma.

"Also Kanzaki said we don't have to worry about them taking away Index anymore."

"Why's that?"

"Apparently they decided to name you Index's guardian, they even gave you a nickname."

"Really what is it? I bet it's something lame like the luckless lad."

Mikoto rolled her eyes, "Nah I wish, It's The Saint Destroyer."

A light glistened from his eyes, like a child who just received the best present from Santa.

"That's so cool."

"..."

"Kamijou Touma The Saint Destroyer, I might even make that my new Gamertag."

"..."

"Hey look out behind you, who is it…... it's the Saint Destroyer!"

_***Biri Biri***_

"Okay, I'll stop now."

"Crumby jokes aside, it's a good name but, it's more of a deterrent for would-be kidnappers than anything."

Touma then tried to move his arms, "Hey do you mind calling the doc, I don't wanna sound ungrateful or anything, it's just that I'd like to be able to move my arms and my head's killing me."

A smirk grew on her face as she raised her right hand, "Why ever would I do that," Bluish whites sparks began to form.

"B-Because you're a nice person Mikoto-sama…."

The electricity faded away as she crossed her arms "Fine"

The two then heard the door begin to open and to Mikoto's surprise there she was, the Queen bee of Tokiwadai, the Queen Shokuhou Misaki.

Out of pure reflex, Mikoto jumped in front of Touma, she had no idea why she was here but, knew Shokuhou well enough to know that she might read his mind.

The shock on Shokuhou's face was ever prevalent as she saw this, "What are you doing here!?"

The boy sat up in a pure white bed.

"Um..." said the boy with a quizzical look on his face and bandages wrapped around his head like a headband. "Is she your friend Mikoto?"

His words were the polite and doubtful words of someone probing for information.

Shokuhou's breathing stopped for a moment as her entire face began to turn pale, "It's me, don't you remember?"

"Umm?" His words sounded worried. He turned his gaze towards the only face he actually remembered.

Mikoto was just as confused. "Shokuhou-san, what are you doing here?"

She was ignored.

"Touma, don't remember me?"

"I'm sorry, I have no idea who you are, are you okay? You look really sad."

Shokuhou felt the urge to cry rise up as high as her chest. Her worst fear had just come true.

* * *

As Shokuhou sat there alone in the hallway she could only vaguely remember what happened just a few minutes ago.

In between all the tears and crying Mikoto somehow managed to get her to calm down enough to lead her out of Touma's room. He wanted to go after them but, his injuries made it impossible, so he couldn't.

After leaving the room Mikoto tried to talk to her, Shokuhou couldn't respond to a single question without beginning to cry again.

Eventually, a noise came from Touma's room. Probably him trying to force his way out of his bed to go see her, and Mikoto left her alone in the hallway to go check on him to make sure he was okay.

And here she was alone.

She pulled her phone out and listened to the message again.

_'H-Hey, Ummm...I said I'd call if I needed your help…..and I really don't know what to do here I mean…...She's so sick…..I don't know if I can….you know what nevermind…..I-I'll figure something out, I'm sorry I bothered you, I know once you hear this you'll be worried about me but don't be, I have my friend here with me, I'm sure we'll probably figure something out….Anyways in case you don't get this in time, I'll see you tomorrow, I have so much I need to tell you, some of the stuff I'm gonna say is gonna be hard to believe but it's the truth and once you meet Index I'm sure she'll be able to convince you, Take care...Golden Girl'_

_(I let him down, the one time he needed me... I...I betrayed him.)_

Tears began pouring out from her eyes.

Her eyes that once sparkled with stars were now hidden in the bangs of her luscious golden hair.

_'Can you please give him this one miracle, and I swear I'll make it right'_

"I'm sorry….I'm so sorry….I let you down."

Amidst all of the tears, she didn't notice as one girl on the other side of the hall smiled at her misery as she began to walk the other way.

Her face was devoid of any life so much so that a passing nun poked her to check to see if she was okay.

"Umm..excuse me."

Shokuhou did not look up.

"Are you okay?"

"H-He doesn't remember….." Those were the only words that she could mutter out.

Index face turned to shock. She could not help but lower her gaze in shame. As she knew who she was talking too.

"I-I'm so sorry" Index worked to keep her breathing steady.

Touma had been hurt for her sake. It was not fair for so many people to suffer.

Misaki managed to get out of her daze for a moment to listen to what she had to say.

"M-My names Index,"

"!?"

"T-Touma got hurt because of me….He fought magicians for me and saved me." Index felt like she could not go on speaking for much longer. "I-I'm so sorry you had to lose him...I-It's all my fault….because of me he lost his memories again and now he forgot you too. I should've never gotten him involved..."

Index felt a hand on her shoulder.

Misaki bit her lip.

She could easily wipe away everything from her right now just like she did to him.

It wouldn't even be a problem for her to get around those poisonous memories of hers.

It wasn't like she would fight back either.

But she didn't. Because that's not what he would do.

"D-Don't cry," Her words sounded unsteady but firm.

Index froze in place. "B-But."

"Just don't…...Touma didn't save you so you could cry…" She had forced the urge to cry down, "He saved you so you could smile," It was hardly a perfect smile, but she did at least manage a crumbling smile.

"T-Thank you…."

"N-Now can you please tell me what happened."

* * *

**Part 6**

**Kamijou Touma's Hospital Room**

"Let me go!"

"Touma stop! You might hurt yourself even more than you already have!"

Touma winced as he looked over at his left wrist, in his attempts to leave the bed to follow the crying girl he sprained it. "I can't just leave her like that, you saw how she just cried she obviously knows me."

"But do you know her?"

"!? I never saw her before in my life…."

"Touma, do you remember when you told me someone erased your memories, who was that?"

"I-I-I don't know?"

He seemed to have a pained expression on his face as he tried to recall events that made no sense.

Mikoto also seemed unsure, "The girl who was just here was a named Shokuhou Misaki she's a Level 5 telepath, is none of this ringing a bell?"

"I'm telling you I have no idea!"

Just as the two were about to argue some more the Frog faced doctor walked in. "What seems to be the problem here."

Touma turned to him with a panicked expression on his face, "Was there anything wrong with my head when I came in!?"

The doctor looked puzzled, "No, you had no head injuries at all, it was just your body that was mangled."

Mikoto then turned to him, "So you didn't give him an MRI?"

"Not yet, why did something happen?"

"Touma can't remember a girl named Shokuhou Misaki, apparently they knew each other and now he can't seem to remember ever meeting her."

The doctor had a worried expression on his face. "Let's get him over there right now."

* * *

**Hospital Roof**

"So magic really exists?" Misaki mused.

Index nodded, "Yep, wait you believe me!?"

Misaki laughed, "Yes, yes. I believe you. If you say that it's real, then that must be the case besides he did tell me it would be hard to believe."

"Wow, you took that a lot better than Touma did" She then looked down at the ground "Are you mad?"

"At my own lack of ability to answer a phone, yes but, I'm not mad at you." Misaki sighed as she starred out at the sky, "He's always like this, perhaps that's the proper form for our relationship ability. No matter how many times he sees someone in trouble he goes out to help them even if he has no idea who they are, me on the other hand…"

"Perhaps this is my punishment for having this power" She then looked at the remotes in her purse, "After all this is the second time something like this happened to him."

Index then twiddled with her fingers, "Ahh, Touma said something about him losing his memories to me before, do you know anything about that?"

As she continued to look at the distance she answered, "I do, I was the one who took his memories away."

"W-Why would you do that, I thought you said you-"

"It was because I loved him that I did it. I'd rather he be alive and not remember me than die knowing my face."

It suddenly all clicked inside of Index's head. That's why her friends did what they did.

"I see…."

"So, what're you going to do now Index? Now that you regained your memory ability, where will you go?"

"I uh….Don't know really, I usually just kept to myself before I met Touma and Mikoto….."

She seemed to trail off.

"Mikoto? Was she there that day when Touma saved you?"

"Huh? Yeah, she was…."

"In your honest opinion Index, do you think Misaka-san ability helped you break that curse?"

Index was at a loss for words.

It was true that from what Mikoto told her that she didn't help at all in saving her but even, so she was her friend.

Misaki took this pause as an answer.

"I see…***sigh*** In any case, I should go see him now. If I don't his worry ability might go haywire."

"? But you told me he didn't remember you."

Misaki smiled, "He doesn't…..but that doesn't mean I forgot him, even if his memory ability fails, I'll keep the memories for the both of us. Even if he has forgotten everything and even if someone else is smiling by his side my emotions will never change. I love him."

Index smiled, "Okay"

* * *

**Kamijou Touma's Hospital Room**

On the other side of the door again Shokuhou sighed. She had prepared herself to face him again. She knew she upset him from the way she left earlier and wanted to make sure he knew that she was alright.

That's when She knocked on the door twice. That was all she did, but it felt more spiritually taxing than anything else.

While waiting for a response, she heard a familiar voice.

"Yes?"

It was her. Mikoto Misaka.

Her tone was polite and innocent enough, but this didn't stop Misaki from hating hearing it coming from in there.

"It's me, can I come in?"

There was a short pause before her reply came in.

"Oh it's you…..Give me a second"

Index tilted her head confused as to why Mikoto would make them wait while Misaki was just annoyed.

After a few minutes passed the door swung open to show Mikoto in her street clothes.

"Hey" While her tone sounded polite it had undertones of resentment instilled into it.

Normally Misaki would call her out on how she's not supposed to change out of her uniform, but she had more important things on her mind, "How is he?"

Before she could give a reply, Index had already let herself in and was in front of Touma's bed.

The boy had an unsure expression on his face.

"Touma, you don't remember me, but we met on your dorm balcony. You destroyed my Walking Church with your right hand and…... you fought magicians for me and got hurt" Index felt a surge of emotions take hold of her as she continues to speak but even so she had one last thing to say to him, "Y-You were my angel Touma."

"Ah ha ha ha! Index what the heck are you talking about!?"

"Hweh...?"

Index froze in place.

"Why are you getting so emotional Index, Geez. I was only gone for less of a day, overdramatic much."

Index did not understand. She thought she was imagining things, so she rubbed her eyes. She thought she was hearing things, so she cleared out her ears. It felt like her perfectly sized habit had somehow become too big so one shoulder was about to slip off.

Eventually, Misaki saw this and rushed to his side.

"Touma does that mean….. I was told you forgot everything because the feathers landed on your head."

He smiled towards her, "Yeah It's true I chose to take those feathers of light at the very end but none of them landed on my head. I'm no magician, so I have no idea what effects they had, but according to the doctor, I had some sort of Amnesia because of it."

"T-Then how.."

He then waved his right hand towards her, "The feathers were magic remember."

"Ah," said Index as she realized something.

"That's right,"

He then pointed his finger towards Misaki, "That makes things simple enough for you, right Golden Girl? I just touched my own head with my right hand and used Imagine Breaker on myself."

Index weakly sat down on the floor.

"Basically, I just had to negate the magical Amnesia that the feathers gave me and I was alright. After all, those feathers of light were nothing more than a strange supernatural power, so there was no problem."

His head then turned to Misaki, "I'm sorry if I scared you before, it's just that I didn't touch my head until after you showed up….I'm really sorry."

Without another word, Misaki launcher herself at his arms, he found himself patting her head comforting her as she sobbed "You remember!"

Somehow this boy's Imagine Breaker negated fate itself.

As the entire room smiled at this miracle, one person had an empty expression on her face.

She was the one who knew that the smile on his face was a broken one.

* * *

"EHHHHHHH! NO WAY!"

"EHHHHHHHH! You've gotta be kidding me right!? You're telling me that the blonde that came into my room was my girlfriend!?"

Both Mikoto and Touma were in utter shock, him mostly because he never thought he could actually get one.

The doctor simply nodded as he examined the results of Touma's test, "Yes"

"B-B-But HOW!?"

"YEAH, THAT'S WHAT I'D LIKE TO KNOW TOO!" Somehow Mikoto seemed more mad than confused now.

"I don't know! None of this makes any sense!"

Between her ever-growing rage, a thought emerged inside her head.

_(Although, if anything I suppose Shokuhou was the one who erased his memories but, how the hell are they really a couple!?)_

As the doctor finally finished reading the results, he turned to Touma, "I see what happened, I don't know how, but through some means, your brain had been tampered with."

Both of them stood there and realized what must have caused this, "Magic"

"?"

Mikoto sighed, "Y-You probably wouldn't believe us if we told you."

The doctor raised an eyebrow, "About magic not necessarily." A proud look appeared on the doctor's frog-like face. "Hospitals and the occult have a surprisingly close relationship. Depending on their religion, some people refuse to take blood transfusions, refuse surgery, and will sue you even though you saved their life. For a doctor, it is best to just do what the patient says when it comes to the occult." The doctor smiled.

Touma gave off a small smile, "So if I just touch my head than I'd get them all back."

The doctor's face then turned worried, "I wouldn't recommend that."

"Why?"

"When we ran you through the tests we found fluids in your brain that closely match someone who has Dissociative disorder."

Mikoto than had an uneasy look on her face, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"From the way it is now, I wouldn't recommend you touching your head any time soon until your brain returns to normal or that fluid makes its way out of your system."

"Why not?" Touma asked a bit more forceful this time.

"Currently your brain is in a delicate position, the way your power works it would revert everything to normal and cause the makeup of your brain to be affected," His gaze than turned serious, "If you were to do it now, then you would suffer all symptoms of someone who does have a dissociative disorder, that includes a sense of being detached from yourself and your emotions. A blurred sense of identity, depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts."

The room fell silent as they both took a moment to take that in.

"I see…...so you're saying I won't die if I do it, right?"

The frog-faced doctor looked at the boy in slight surprise. "That's correct."

The boy gave a truly genuine smile, "That's good….About what you said before when it came to the occult 'it is best to just do what the patient says when it comes to the occult' I'd like to take you up on that offer doc."

_***Thwack***_

Touma reeled back after Mikoto finished hitting him.

"What're you talking about!? You heard the doctor if you just waited a while then-"

Touma sighed as he answered her, "You're thinking about it to scientifically Mikoto, remember what happened to Index, there no telling if it ever will go back to normal. If I really forgot someone that important in my life I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I didn't try everything to remember."

She was at a loss for words.

"If those are your wishes I won't get in your way." The doctor smiled as he walked out of the room. "Just give me a few minutes to get the tools necessary to open your cast."

As the minutes rolled by they both were silent. Touma wasn't getting anywhere in touching his head as the cast that was on it prevented him from moving it at the angle necessary to touch his head.

That's when they heard someone knock at the door twice.

Mikoto was the first to reply thinking it was the doctor.

"Yes?"

"It's me, can I come in?"

It was her, the girl named Shokuhou Misaki.

"Oh it's you…..Give me a second"

Mikoto turned to Touma who had a desperate look on his face.

She sighed as she went over to him, "Are you sure about this?"

Touma nodded

That's when Mikoto helped him take off his cast with her ability, there was still some iron inside of it so it was simple enough.

He took a moment to look at his hand then at her, "Thank you, I'd hate to ask this of you but, can you not mention this to them, I don't want them to worry."

"...Fine"

_***Shatter***_

The look on his face was transparent it was if he didn't know what to believe anymore.

"Are you okay?"

"..."

"Touma?"

"...I'm fine, I'm sorry if I worried you it's just …..it's just a lot to take in….I'm fine though, really."

_He was lying_

* * *

**Part 7**

After a few hours of talking to him, Misaki was finally sure that he really remembered everything.

Once the doctor told them that Touma would have to stay there for at least three days Misaki swore that she would come to visit every day, she even had another proposal for Touma in mind.

"Are you sure you don't want me to stay the night my Prince✩."

"Y-Y-Yeah, I don't want you to get in trouble because of me." The pure misfortunate boy nodded nervously as he blushed profusely. At the end of the day, he was still a gentleman.

Misaki continued to tease him as she snuggled him on his hospital bed. He could feel her well-endowed chest press up against him.

She pretended to pout, "Alright."

The only reason why they weren't interrupted by others was that Mikoto and Index had long since left the room.

Misaki while laying next to him holding his hand, spoke to him, "I'm sorry I let you down…...You needed my help and I-"

"It's alright" His voice was genuine as if he held no resentment whatsoever. "I'm just glad it worked out in the end."

Misaki held him close pressing up against him more, "I promise I won't let you down ever again."

"You never let me down, it was an honest mistake besides there were plenty of times that I never picked up the phone when you called because my phone broke."

Misaki laid there holding him as she smiled at him, "I should've known you would say something like that."

* * *

Being that Mikoto couldn't stand looking at Shokuhou for another second she left the room to find something more productive to do like find Index a place to live.

Now that she was free from the church hunting her down there was still the issue of her living arrangement, Her place was off the table since she lived at the Tokiwadai Dorms and her Dorm Manager would sniff her out the second she arrived, and there was no way in hell that Mikoto was gonna let Index stay with Touma since he was a boy and lived alone.

Eventually, Saten offered to take Index.

"So, you'll really do it?"

"Yeah I mean I have no roommate and I owe Kamijou-san for saving my life."

"Thank you so much, I need you to watch Index whenever we're gone and feed her."

Saten seemed to have a worried look on her face, "Why are you referring to her like you would a baby Misaka-san, I think she's older than me?"

Mikoto sighed, "You'll see when you talk to her for a few minutes, she a good person just a little bit naive….oh and don't let her anywhere near your electrical appliances, she still calls the microwave something that makes things explode."

"That's ominous….."

Mikoto then snapped her fingers, "Oh that reminds me here you go. It's for Index's living expenses" She then handed her the envelope that Kanzaki gave to her.

The moment Saten opened it her eyes shot wide open, "T-This is more than what I make in a year" She mumbled.

"Don't worry I know it's not a lot, so we'll make sure to send you more when we get everything figured out."

Saten turned to Misaka with an unsure look in her eyes, (Is Index like yours and Kamijou-san secret adoptive child or something?)

Mikoto then looked over at the clock at the wall, "Well it's getting late I better get back to my dorm before curfews up, I'll go get Index for you I think she's still in the cafeteria"

"Don't go yet Misaka-san~"

Mikoto froze in place.

While that was Saten's voice she could tell something was off.

When she turned around she saw her striking a pose extenuating the stars that now filled her eyes, "We still have so much to talk about✩"

"SHOKUHOU! LET HER GO NOW!"

She had a quizzical look on her face, "You seem upset, Misaka-san~"

Mikoto scowled at her, "What do you think you're doing!?"

"I just wanted to make sure that we could put our faith in this girl's trust ability. I wouldn't want anything bad to happen to Index after all" She then started to giggle, "You wouldn't believe the thoughts this girl has for Touma✩, Misaka-san~ "

"Stop reading her mind!"

She then cupped her hands together and started to pout as sparkles formed around her cutesy face, "But when I can't read someone's mind, I'm afraid to be with them or even trust them✩." Suddenly her expression turned cold, "And since I have no idea what's going through your head, I can't really trust you, now can I?"

Mikoto started to ball her hand into a fist, "What do you want!?"

"All I want is to make sure that you understand what happens going forward, Touma told me how the two of you met, he heroically saved you from a group of thugs and in response you try to kill him."

"I never tried to-"

She narrowed her eyes at her "You didn't know he had that power, for all you knew he could've had a heart condition and your shock would've killed him."

Mikoto stood there silent.

"He put his trust in you and because of your own lack of ability you let him down and he ended up in the hospital twice."

"..."

"I want you to understand that I'm his girlfriend, I understand that you need to be in the picture to help protect Index but even so, I don't trust you."

Mikoto continued to glare daggers at her.

"In case you're wondering, I adore Index her sweetness ability knows no bound, I just wanted to be sure you got the message because if I see you acting out of line or see you put Touma in any more danger that doesn't involve magic than…..I'll have to get serious about messing with you Misaka-san"

Mikoto started to spark, "How about you come here and say that to my face instead of using my friend as your mouthpiece Shokuhou."

She simply smiled, "I'd be glad to….Although if you were to do anything to... I don't know to harm me, Touma's forgiveness ability might be vast but, even he has his limits. If you were to even so much as to touch me in the wrong way, he'd probably never speak to you again."

Mikoto ground her teeth down in frustration since she knew she was right.

"By the way, I decided to move from back to the Dorms in the Gardens, I only moved in the first place to be closer to Touma, but now that he promised to walk me back to my dorm every day once he gets out of the hospital, I see no reason to stay there. Bye for now✩"

Suddenly Saten snapped out of her control, "Huh? How'd I get here….Misaka-san why do you seem so upset?"

"It's nothing….wait here while I go get Index for you."

_(There's no way in hell that someone like her could ever be with someone like him)_

* * *

**Omake**

**Awkward Call To The Archbishop**

**Laura Stewart:** "So you just gave him Index. If I didn't know any better?"

**Kaori Kanzaki:** "No you don't know better, I didn't give him Index he defeated me in combat and took her."

**Laura Stewart:** "Whoa, Whoa, Whoa, He beat you? You're a Saint and he just beat you? The little Japanese Schoolboy just walked in there kicked your ass and took Index? Is that possible?"

**Kaori Kanzaki:** "...Yes?"

**Laura Stewart:** "Wait, you don't get my reference?"

**Kaori Kanzaki:** "What?"

**Laura Stewart: *Sigh*** "Nevermind"

* * *

**Omake**

**The Amakusa hear the News**

"Wow, Itsuwa that's so cool, what do you call it?"

She smiled as she responded, "**The Saint Destroyer**, after the departure of the Priestess we wanted to understand the burden of being a Saint, and in theory, surpass whatever she feels like a threat. So one day when she returns we can bare her burdens for her."

"I hope wherever the priestess is, she's alright."

Suddenly Tatemiya Saiji walked into the room, "Hey Itsuwa, you know how you named that attack Saint Destroyer for the Priestess, right?"

She tilted her head in response, "Yes, why?"

He then told them what happened to Kanzaki and how the boy got the epithet The Saint Destroyer.

"Ohh…I see"

"Itsuwa?"

"..."

"Why are you polishing your spear Itsuwa ?"

"..."

Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.


	21. Chapter 21 Who Are We?

**Thank you for reading a Certain Scientific Counter. And thank you for everyone who commented it really helps me get more ideas for future chapters. I'd like to thank my Beta-Reader Graesok for helping me edit this. Now without further ado Q&A**

**Tsun- Yes a misunderstanding tends to cause the biggest headaches.**

**Aminadab Brulle- Sorry about your heart but it'll make it all the stronger for what's to come.**

**Anti-Mage 29- Oh but alas the heart is something that can be broken and repaired by simple words. And yes Saint Destroyer is a cool name and it's his epithet for the Magic Side, some Japanese high school kid doesn't really spawn intimidation in Magicians across the world who are trying to take Index. And, you'll see.**

**D.N Works- Though the toll was high the journey was still worth it. And yes it will have an effect on the Sisters Arc.**

**Awardedall- Yes and No.**

**BlueJack22- Good play by play and Istuwa...**

**Fortitude501- She is unsettling...And finally, Mikoto has learned of Misaki. What will become of this? What will they do? Find out all this and more in A Certain Scientific Counter! Also the Omake...Touma...run man run!**

**Savior555- Sort of. I had that song on my Youtube playlist and thought it went with the theme. You'll see how the Sisters Arc plays out in due time. Ayu...no! And I love how you assume it was Magic that messed with his mind. Since when did Mikoto and Touma become experts in Magic? Where did they get their credentials? From a Chris Angel set? And yes the scene where Touma forgot Misaki *Sniff* so sad. And I try to show not tell when I can. And yeah Misaki was always more accepting of Magic well only if Touma tells her it's real. That's how their relationship is they trust each other unconditionally. And yeah, Touma wasn't walking out of this unscathed something like forgetting a major person in your life than remembering them all over again really messes with a person, especially someone who already had doubts about their sense of self. Itsuwa put down the spear. The lighter? I don't know what you speak of *Whistles***

**Nguyen Thanh Long- Ayu you poor lost cotton candy haired soul. Where have you gone? The Lighter...And Misaki and Mikoto RED ALERT.**

**Chris- Accelerator the Tsundre. Better watch out Mikoto. The Saint Destroyer, I always liked the titles you gain from games when you take down a boss. Heya there Yandere how ya doing? Wait what are doing? Put don the syringe...NO! And Mikoto tried...But Misaki doesn't trust her since she can't read her mind. And Mikoto doesn't trust her since she thinks she knows her personality. And Index is now saved and living with Saten even though Touma is going to pay for her room and board, count the small victories. Thank you.**

**Ryder: No it did not. Mikoto pulled his head away from the feathers when she jerked Index across the room but, that was all she saved his body was in tatters.**

**Nameless. 1 You will see. 2. Othinus? Chances are good since he had over 100 billion chances to ask her. 3. She did in the AIM chapter. 4. Touma will probably pick up a few new tricks here and there as the story goes on. 5. Oh, he's an Angel but you gotta remember that Lucifer was an Angel too.**

**Rajarshi Sarkar- Yes. And you must expect the unexpected. And this is just me planting seeds for future arcs down the line. Thank you the first 5 were a slice of life and me trying to find my writing style so thank you.**

**Generation Zero- I do too.**

**Nameless- I like the way you think. So I might just use some of these ideas or Counter your expectations...*Cricket***

* * *

**Who Are We?**

**Part 1**

**July 29**

**12:00 AM**

**Touma's Hospital Room**

Now that visiting hours had ended and everyone had gone home, Touma was alone.

That in and of itself wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't that his room was completely white.

It made him hard to get a good grasp on his surroundings, it almost looked like an optical illusion of sorts making it look like the room was closing in on him.

To make matters worse, the room was completely barren except for the hospital equipment already there along with some chairs, so he couldn't even pass the time by watching TV.

He was completely alone just him and his thoughts and that was driving him mad.

It wasn't like he could go to sleep anytime soon, ever since touched his head he didn't feel like sleeping anymore.

It wasn't as though he felt bad, it's just he didn't feel like it anymore.

So for the rest of the night, he would just stare at the ceiling waiting for time to pass by. Trying to think of anything else except that.

.

.

Ẃ̷̡̖͓̲̞͔̞̝̲̙͊͆̌̏̀͊̊͠͝ḩ̝̘̩͎̺̳̬̾̃̂̾͘ǫ̷̧̢̖̞̮̝́̎͗̋̀̾̕͢ a̴̛͉̰̫͕̫̿̒͗͊̚͜͡ͅr̷̢̙̹͙̳̽̃̋̽̄̄͋͘é̷̯̖̞̩͙͔͎̈́̿̏̓̃̒͘͞ y̵̡̨̬̼̜̹̤̬͒̽́̍͗̿͊̂͢͞͡ͅǒ̵̧̻̟̞̦͓͍̳̄̇̈́̚͝͡ͅȕ̧͚̱̘̯̰̻͎̘̱̆̎͛̍͒?̵̧̛͇̜͙̰̲̗̋͊̈̆̔͌͢͢͠

.

* * *

**10:00 AM**

He could hear the footsteps as they approached his room. It was about that time of day now, visiting hours.

He laid back down on his bed and closed his eyes and waited for them to open the door.

They knocked twice before opening the door, "Hey Touma, are you awake?"

He opened his eyes and began to stretch when he looked over to see who it was.

It was Index she was wearing her usual Nun's habit held together by safety pins, he'd offered to sew it back up for her in the past but she declined to say she liked it better this way. She was holding some sort of messenger bag.

"I am now, are you by yourself?"

Index began to pout, "You make it sound like it's a bad thing, and you shouldn't sleep in so much."

He smiled as he began to rub the back of his head, "Yeah, sorry about. So how have you been, I heard you moved in with Saten-san"

"Mmmm...It's okay, I mean I tried to make us both food earlier today in her Kitchen, but for some reason, she wouldn't let me into the Kitchen without her being there too."

(Thank Goodness)

"What's in the bag Index?"

"Hmm….Oh yeah, Ruiko said that you might get bored here so I went and got you some stuff."

He appreciated the thought but most if not all of the stuff she brought was completely useless to him. A large portion of it was just a bunch of Toys from that show she liked and some fruit, apparently, she heard from Saten-san that bringing fruit to sick people is a cultural thing here. The only real thing he could use to keep himself entertained was the deck of cards she brought with her.

"Hmmm...Hey, Index wanna play cards?"

Index tilted her head, "I never really played cards before."

"That's alright, I'll teach you."

Her face then lit up, "Really! Okay, let's play right now. "

He then had a smile on his face, "Okay."

* * *

**Part 2**

**Accelerator's Hospital Room**

**2:00 PM**

Accelerator looked out the window as bored as could be with an earbud in each ear playing music.

This was due to the fact that they were doing some kind of construction outside his room.

He had only recently learned that the experiment he was taking apart of was postponed and he had nothing to fill his day with anymore. To make matters worse, he wasn't even allowed to go home yet since he was still under observation for the next few days, so for the time being this private hospital room was his home.

It wasn't as bad as you'd think he actually enjoyed the peace and quiet, however, he soon found out the hard way that peace and quiet was boring as hell.

To pass the time he went over the fight he had with that so-called magician a few days ago and after going over it a few times in his head he quickly found some inconsistencies with what happened.

It can be said that exotic energies work in similar mannerisms as something like Dark Matter, but what she gave off was different.

Another thing that didn't add up was the redhead's fire. How was it able to hurt him and why did it damage his liver?

He had a multitude of questions about the entire situation and he knew someone who would have the answers he was looking for, Kamijou Touma.

Apparently, he was staying in the hospital for observation as well and was just across the hallway from his room. The only reason he hadn't gone there earlier was because of the construction going on, he hated crowds and was in no mood to deal with them now.

He took off his earbuds and finally heard the sweet sound of silence.

The construction had ended and he was finally free to go see him.

* * *

"What the fuck is this?"

Accelerator had to be sure his eyes weren't playing tricks on him, so he went over to touch the nameplate on the door.

It was colored gold and had the following words written on it.

_**Kamijou Touma**_

What shocked him the most was how presumptuous this was, it was like this was his reserved hospital room or something.

Why in the world would the hospital even allow this?

After taking a moment to soak it all in he also noticed that even the door was made different.

While Accelerator was a straightforward person he chose to knock on his door, he'd rather not run the risk of catching him doing something there.

"Who is it?"

It wasn't a boy's voice that asked this, instead he was greeted by a girl's voice. From the sound of it, she was young.

"..."

"Hellooooo?"

"..."

The door then swung open to show the person he was looking for. He had a tired look in his eyes, from what he could tell he probably didn't sleep much if at all.

"Oh, It's you…..Accelerator?"

"Tch! Is that a question or a statement."

"Uh…statement? In any case, come in."

Accelerator then stepped into his room and was even more shocked to see the inside.

The walls of his room were no longer colored white, instead a deep shade of maroon took their place. It looked more like an executive suite than a hospital room now. He even had a small shelf full of just manga and Light Novels and from what he could tell…..Is that a mini-fridge?

Accelerator looked over at the flat-screen TV with suspicious eyes.

(How the hell did he get all this?)

A girl wearing a white nun's habit with silver hair and green eyes looked at him curiously.

"Touma, who's this?"

The tired boy looked back at her, "He's my friend," he then nodded to her as if to signal her for something.

"Ohhh! Okay" She nodded back as discreetly as possible, which wasn't at all.

Normally, Accelerator would get straight to the point but..., "What the hell happened to your room?"

The boy then rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "Ohh this…...Let's just say a made one little comment and this happened, I only recently got back here myself, Index and I were in the cafeteria for like 3 hours waiting for them to finish."

He then pointed to the nun, "Ohh, by the way, this is Index"

She then waved to him, "Hi"

Accelerator looked even more confused.

"Ohh yeah that reminds me, wait here," He then went over to some messenger bag on his small drawer…..he has a drawer in here! "Here this is for you."

The boy proceeds to hand him a piece of fruit, which he accepted even more confused.

"What the hell is this?"

The nun looked at him quizzically, "It's a banana, see you peel it and eat it, it's really yummy."

"I KNOW WHAT A BANANA IS! WHY ARE YOU GIVING IT TO ME?!"

"Huh? The doc said you were sick, right? Bananas are good for your heart. They're packed with potassium, a mineral electrolyte that keeps electricity flowing throughout your body. The Doctor told me what happened to your body so I got you this."

Accelerator took a moment to take this all in. Apparently, this banana had more significance behind it then he had originally thought. He looked at the fruit for a moment studying it. From what he could tell it wasn't poisoned.

"Hey, do you wanna play cards?"

Accelerator's eyes widened in surprise, "What?"

"Index and I were playing cards, but since it's just the two of us it really limits what we can play and since Misaki already left, I was wondering if you wanted to play?"

Normally, Accelerator would refuse, but this was the first time he could remember that someone had actually wanted to play cards with him and he honestly had nothing better to do other than stare out the window.

"Fine. What're we playing?"

Touma grinned.

* * *

**2:50 PM**

"Yay! I win again, this is really fun Touma!"

"You've gotta be shitting me!" This was the 4th hand Accelerator had lost to the nun.

Even though they were playing with toy money it still took its toll on his pride since he had lost it all to this girl.

Touma then rubbed the back of his head, "I know right, I only showed Index this game this morning and she's already a natural." As the dealer, he was in a much better position than him. "So wanna play something else, what about palace?"

Accelerator gritted his teeth, there was no way in hell he was going to lose to this kid. He went into his pocket and pulled out his wallet.

"All or nothing, Nun!"

Index tilted her head, "But...you don't have anything?"

"What!? I'm betting real money?"

"I know, but Touma said we could only play with fake money otherwise I'd be called gambling" Her voice was full of innocence.

He then turned to Touma and glared, "What! I'm not trying to go to jail or the ICU for teaching her how to actually gamble." (Knowing Mikoto she'd probably try to shock me again.)

"Fine then what do you want, Nun?"

Index looked to be in deep thought for a moment before a metaphorical lightbulb appeared over her head, "Fine, but only if you let me christen you."

"Sure, whatever" Accelerator had no idea what she meant, but it really didn't matter much to him since he planned to win the next hand.

The innocent nun then extended her pinky towards him. "Okay promise"

(What am I fucking 5!?)

Begrudgingly he complied, but not without a look of contempt plastered onto his face.

Touma then handed Accelerator the deck so he could shuffle before he dealt them their hands.

Accelerator took his hand and inspected it.

(Fuck! 16)

From the moment they pinky swore to the moment Index got her two cards she had a straight face through it all.

"Pass"

(Fuck! Did she get a good hand?)

Accelerator had also kept a straight face not letting a single emotion seep out "Hit me"

Touma gave him his card and he looked over to inspect it, 4.

(Ha! I win)

"That's it for me."

The atmosphere seemed to change as both players faces kept the same calm expression they had throughout the entire match.

Accelerator than presented his cards and with all the confidence in the world announced his number. "20"

Index began to smile as she revealed hers, "Blackjack, I win"

The boys were speechless, she had won 5 rounds in a row.

Index than glanced over at the clock "That was fun...oh wow it's getting late"

"Hmmm….oh you're right, you better get going before it gets dark out, I'll call Saten to come to pick you up."

"No that's alright, they all went out to investigate some rumor about the '**Longicorn of the Vacant Lot'** Pfft...Like that's a real thing, I even told Ruiko the same thing, but they all went anyways…...oh and Mikoto says hi." She looked down at the ground for that last part.

The boy sighed, "How is Mikoto taking the whole…..you know?"

"Good? Though she does have the tendency to call Misaki a…...I don't remember" said the girl with perfect memory.

"Such misfortune…"

Index then turned to Accelerator with sparkles in her eyes, "Don't worry white hair! I'll christen you tomorrow."

Accelerator rolled his eyes, "Sure, what the hell does christening even mean?"

Touma turned to him with a confused look, "You didn't know what it meant and yet you still agreed to it, and I thought I was bad."

"Tsk! Shut the hell up! How the hell was I supposed to know the nun was gonna win?"

"Because she'd won every other round before this." Touma deadpanned.

Accelerator simply shrugged, "Whatever, and what the hell is a '**Longicorn?"**

Index sighed, "When we went to a restaurant to eat Ruiko saw a bunch of kids who were talking about someone who cuts sleeping people's hair and got curious so they all went to investigate it." Index shook her head disapprovingly, "I left after they started talking about who would be the bait for the Longicorn…apparently the Longicorn went after elementary school kids and we had a talk about who looked the most like one…Ruiko wanted to be it but…..It didn't work out. It was down to me and Mikoto after that" The room filled with an aura of malice. "So I left and came here."

(Ouch)

"A-Anyways I think it's getting late, I'll see you Tomorrow" Touma was no fool, continuing with this conversation would only mean spending more time in the hospital.

"...Okay, Bye it was nice meeting you White Hair"

And with that, the Silver Sister was gone.

Accelerator than raised an eyebrow "Who the hell was that?"

"That's Index, she's the girl that those guys we fought were talking about."

"Yeah, I figured that much. What I mean is, why is she still here and where the hell did those other clowns run off to?"

"Oh them, they're gone, the only reason they were after her in the first place was to save her, but once I showed them that they were wrong, I was able to save Index." He then rubbed the back of his head, "Thanks for helping me out back there I don't wanna think about what would've happened if they actually went through with it."

"Hmph, I only wanted to show those bastards up, they pissed me the hell off and they got what they deserved."

"Still, thank you."

Accelerator rolled his eyes "Whatever I'm outta here"

"Wait…..if you don't have anything else to do then," The boy then riffled through his bag and pulled out what seemed to be a gaming console controller, "I was wondering if you wanted to play **Gekisho 9**, it used to be an Arcade only kind of thing but I got this from a buddy of mine a while back, I also got...let's see I also got **Heroes vs Villains Dawn of the New World **and **Heavy Object Comiket 88**...what the hell who the hell put **Gekota Meets Kill Bear** here!"

Accelerator looked at him skeptically "What are you doing?"

"Hmmm, what'd you mean?"

"I mean, what the hell are you trying to pull!?"

The misfortunate boy then rubbed the back of his head and sighed, "Heh, I guess you got me."

(I knew it)

"I guess…..I don't know, I was getting kind of lonely you know. I mean I'm already on thin ice as it is with the doctor and I'm not even allowed to leave the hospital, and since you're stuck here too I thought I'd be fun to hang out."

"!?"

The boy then extended a controller to him "I mean you can't feel lonely if there's someone else around, right?"

He said nothing grabbed the controller out of the boy's hand and sat down on a chair facing the TV screen.

* * *

**9:00 PM**

"And I win again, too bad too sad Accelerator"

"Tch! This is fucking rigged! The hero always wins! They even get more goddamn health!"

The boy chuckled, "Yeah, well the villains always have more attack power so I guess that balances things out."

"No, it fucking doesn't!" Accelerator spat out.

In response, the tired boy rolled his eyes, "If it bothers that much why don't you just change classes, hell you could even choose one of the Anti-Hero characters they pretty much have a good balance to them."

"Screw that! Why the hell do I have to change just because some dumbass developers screwed up their game."

(Entitled much)

"Fine, wanna play something else, we still got a couple of games we haven't played yet…..heh heh...wanna play the Gekota one?"

Accelerator narrowed his eyes at the boy, "Why the hell do you even have that?"

"***Sigh*** You know when you try to impress someone by liking the same things they do?"

"?"

"Well, let me tell you something, that never works…..it just doesn't."

"I'm not even gonna pretend to understand the levels of desperation needed to even think that would ever work."

"***Sigh***"

"Stop fucking sighing! It's getting annoying!"

"Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, whatever you say."

The room the two of them shared was littered with wrappers of snacks that they had bought from the vending machine outside. They had spent a majority of the day just screwing around doing nothing. Most of the conversations they had usually just revolved around what they were playing, that is until the misfortunate boy spoke.

"Hey, do ever feel like you don't know who you are anymore?"

"Huh? Where the hell did that come from?"

"I er uh...I was reading a book and it was the theme you know, the character wasn't really sure which parts of themselves were real and which parts were things they just picked up from something else like books."

Accelerator didn't speak for a moment as even he wasn't sure of the answer, "Hmm...not really, I mean does anyone really know who they really are? Usually, people just accept the version of themselves that is expected by everyone else, but if that's the case and we just go off of what other people tell us we are, can you really be sure?"

"I see…" He looked visibly upset at his response.

Just then the doctor walked into the room. "Well I think that's enough for today, it's getting late, wouldn't you say?"

Accelerator looked over at the clock on the wall "Hmm...I guess it is" Without a word he got up from his chair and began walking out of the room, "See ya."

Now that Accelerator had left for his own room the doctor turned to Touma, "And, how are you feeling?"

"As I thought I would I guess…..If you don't mind I'd like to go to bed now."

* * *

**Part 3**

**July 30**

**4:00 AM**

As the hours rolled by Touma found he had the same problem as before.

He tried to pass the time by finishing his Summer Homework but, once that was done he was left with nothing else to do.

He glanced over at the small shelf he had by his bed, "Hmm...might as well read."

* * *

**12:00 PM**

**Accelerator's Hospital Room**

Once Accelerator woke up he noticed the time.

"Tch! I'm getting sloppy."

Usually, he would wake up on the dot for the early morning experiments, but now that they were postponed he was falling back on his past habits of sleeping in.

(Oh yeah didn't the nun say something about christening me? What the hell does that even mean anyway?)

* * *

**Touma's Hospital Room**

The moment Accelerator stepped into the room he was met with a boy who looked like he could use sleep writing on what looked to be a poster board and a nun scolding him.

"Touma! How many times do I have to tell you, you have to color the inside white!"

"For the last time Index, how am I supposed to color something white when it's drawn on a white background!?"

She looked to be getting flustered. "Ragh! You always do this Touma! You always shoot down my ideas!"

"That's because they would never work!"

She glared at him with tears in her eyes, "***sniff* *sniff* **S-Shut up! How do you know! You never even tried it!"

They both then noticed the white-haired boy.

"What the hell is going on here?"

Immediately the nun wiped away her tears and ran to her bag and began searching for something.

Accelerator then turned to Touma, "You look like shit."

"Yeah, well you look like you could use a tan, not everyone can be a model every day."

"I got it!" The nun had pulled out what looked to be a toy wand from the bag and proceeded to run over to Accelerator with it and pointed it at his face. "Ahem...I Index Librorum Prohibitorum of the Anglican Church….."

Accelerator ignored what she was saying and turned to Touma.

"Just let it happen, you did lose the bet after all."

"What's that supposed to...AGH! WHAT THE HELL, IS THIS WATER!" In truth, he had purposely let down his auto reflection though he didn't know he was going to be splashed with water.

"I christen you **Yuki!"**

Just then Touma lifted the posterboard he had been working on showing it to have written in colorful writing the name Yuki.

"What the hell is going on!"

This got curious looks from the both of them, "It's your new name."

"What!?"

Touma then flipped the posterboard around and showed the Name Yuki in Kanji

_**雪**__**\- **__**Pure as the driven snow**_

"There's no way in hell you dumbasses are naming me that!"

Index began to glare at him as she puffed her cheeks, "NO! You promised!"

"Like hell I did!"

"Well, actually Yuki you did lose the bet fair and square."

"WHAT!?"

Index nodded, "Hmph, that's right from now on your name is Yuki!"

"Screw that! Like hell, if you think you can call me that!"

Almost in sync, they both started chanting the name Yuki over and over again.

It eventually got to the point where a nurse had to come in and tell them to stop.

* * *

**3:00 PM**

"***Sigh***"

"What the fuck did I say about sighing!"

"Screw off Yuki! I'm not in the mood, it's your fault we have to clean up this mess in the first place."

After the nurse had come in to stop them, Accelerator made the wisest decision in cursing her out and going on a tirade about being called Yuki. Eventually, Touma tried to step in and one thing left to another and the hall leading to his room was covered in a rainbow of colors.

At first, Touma wanted to avoid the hassle of cleaning this mess so he tried playing the I'm sick card, which prompted the doctor to play then I guess I'll have to call that person and say your condition is getting worse.

Since Index had no interest in cleaning up she just said her goodbyes and left, apparently, Mikoto was going to the pool with her friends while he was stuck here cleaning up the art supplies Misaki had bought Index.

"***Sigh* **Did you really have to go and throw all the paint. I mean the hallway looks like a piece of modern art now."

"Tch! Shut the hell up! It was your own damn fault for getting in the way!"

"How was I supposed to know, telling you, 'hey you shouldn't yell at her' would elicit the response of you throwing paint cans at me! I'm not clairvoyant Yuki!"

Accelerator's grip on the handle of the mop tightened, "Stop fucking calling me that!"

Touma glared his tired eyes at the boy, "Screw you Yuki! You lost the bet fair and square! It's not my fault you don't have basic pattern recognition."

Suddenly something clicked in his mind, "Wait a minute, why the hell am I doing this!?" He then proceeded to drop his mop and head for his room.

"Where the hell do you think you're going!?"

Accelerator turned around with a grin on his face, "I'm not the one being blackmailed here," He then pointed to a wall, "I think you missed a spot"

No alone in the dirty hall of the hospital Kamijou Touma could only sigh.

"Such Misfortune."

* * *

**9:00 PM**

After hours of work, Touma was finally able to finish cleaning up all the paint. The worst part about it was the fact that he also had to repaint the walls white since he chipped away some of the original paint.

"***Sigh*** Huh? She didn't show up today either…."

Touma spent the rest of the night whittling away at the stacks of Manga and Light novels he had on his shelf before he eventually fell asleep.

* * *

**Accelerator's Hospital Hoom**

After Accelerator left the unfortunate boy to do all the cleaning he spent a few hours in his room just listening to music.

However, just like before he found this boring.

Unlike his counterpart, however, he was allowed to leave the hospital whenever he wanted it was just that he had to come back.

He spent a majority of the day just wandering the streets unsure what to do.

Eventually, it became night and he returned to his room to see that the hallway was now clean.

"Hmph."

As he laid back down on his bed he reflected on how dull his day was today.

He then thought back to the previous day and realized that it wasn't so bad.

As he continued to recall the events of the previous day he remembered something that Touma said about him.

'_**He's my friend' **_

He then realized why the day was so dull after he left.

'_**you can't feel lonely if there's someone else around, right?'**_

_What can be drearier than living day by day?_

"Was it because…..Tch!"

Even though he was told that he was his friend, he still didn't accept it.

Accepting something is easier said than done.

* * *

**Part 4**

**July 31**

**Touma's Hospital Room**

"You look better Touma." The golden-haired blonde said.

"Huh? What'd you mean Misaki?"

She pouted as she looked at him, "I mean I was getting worried, yesterday it looked as though you were going to keel over."

"Ehhh!? Really?"

"Yeah, I was gonna say something to the doctor today if it didn't look like your recovery ability was kicking in."

The misfortunate boy then started rubbing the back of his neck, "S-Sorry, I didn't mean to worry you,

She puffed her cheeks out like a child and used her white-gloved fingers to toy with her honey-blonde hair. "***Sigh*** In any case why'd you want to speak to me?"

"Y-Yeah, you see, I'm actually planning on heading outside today."

She raised an eyebrow, "I thought you weren't supposed to leave until tomorrow?"

"...I'm not, that's why I'm breaking outta here."

"WHAT!?"

"Shhh! Look I'm going crazy in here, I literally read every book you brought me, all I want is to walk outside and get some fresh air, besides I'm not even injured anymore."

"L-Look I can understand if your patience ability is running thin, but don't you think I'd be better to just wait one more day until they let you out?"

"You know the only reason I told you this is because I don't want you to get worried when they call you right?"

"Huh?"

"I'm gonna level with you for a second, I'm going…..you can try and stop me but we both know you're woefully out of shape and probably wouldn't even make it outta the hospital without running out of breath."

She was honestly speechless as he got up from the bed and put on his shoes.

It wasn't until he was headed out the door that she came back to her senses.

"I AM NOT OUT OF SHAPE!"

"Wow, delayed reaction much. Anyways see ya!"

* * *

I'd like to say that Misaki put up a good fight as her powers included mind reading, brainwashing, memory erasure, hallucinations, telepathy, confessions, absentmindedness, etc. Her power was so broad that even she could not grasp it all without dividing it up through her use of different remote controls.

But even with all of this, she still didn't even make it through the second floor without running out of breath.

"***Pant**Pant* *Pant***...Wait...just...wait ...Ugh...ugh"

"Why are you so out of breath you're about to vomit, we didn't even go that far. How can you brag about eating healthily when you're this out of shape!?"

"***Pant**Pant***...I'll remember that."

She was so exhausted that even her implicit threats fell flat.

"***Sigh*** Look you're never gonna catch me. So can you just stop? I mean I feel really bad making you run, even though by the looks of it you really needed it."

Ignoring his words Misaki started to catch her breath again, "Look, I know I can't stop you but, can I at least come with you?"

"Look as much as I'd really like that, I can tell already that you'd be on edge the entire time."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I mean, remember when I first woke up last summer?"

Misaki's eyes widened as she began to blush as she recalled what happened last year.

After Touma was released from the hospital from his run-in with Deadlock, Misaki made it her mission to stick by his side like glue. Normally Touma wouldn't have minded the company except whenever someone approached them who they didn't know Misaki had a tendency to shoot first and ask questions later. It eventually came to the point where Touma wanted to tell her to stop but couldn't because of the look she had on her face. She didn't do it out of malice she did it out of genuine fear, after what she went through he couldn't tell her to just stop worrying.

"Ohh. B-But I've gotten better you know?"

"I know it's just….I think it'd be best for both of us if I did this on my own, I can already tell you're worried about magic and me being involved in it."

"W-Well I'd be lying if I said I wasn't, but how is you going off on your own good for me?"

"Cause you need to learn to trust me when I say I'll always come back, it's just like it was before you'd get worried over the smallest of things, do you remember what we did to fix that last time?"

"Hmmm, if I recall you went off on one of your ridiculous escapades around the city and didn't tell me about it, didn't it end up with you almost getting hit with a car?"

"Yeah, that's the one."

"Your persuasive ability is wavering, my Prince."

"Look I know it didn't look it at the time but, after that, you were a lot less worried about me going off on my own, so I think this is for the best."

"B-But last time you didn't have to sneak out of the hospital for almost dying, wait how about this, instead of me going with you, you take Junko along?"

He had a coughing fit before responding.

"H-Hokaze-san?"

"Yeah, what's wrong?"

"N-Nothing, sure if I'd make you feel better sure."

Misaki sighed in relief, "Okay, now if you don't mind can you carry me the rest of the way down."

* * *

**Part 5**

After waiting a few minutes outside there she was Hokaze Junko she was a girl with gorgeous purple hair in ringlet curls. She was the #2 of Shokuhou's clique and as such she knew very much of Touma's relationship with her Queen.

"Good morning. I'm sorry if it took me a while to get here." Her tone was so polite and full of innocence.

"H-Hey Hokaze-san."

Her eyes then turned to him, "It's nice to see you again Kamijou-sama."

"I-It's good to see you too."

With that, she went over to her Queen as they discussed the terms of Touma's furlough. She was not to let Touma out of her sight as well as to protect him from the obvious upcoming misfortunate events that were going to happen.

"***Sigh*** Misaki is all of this really necessary? I mean it's not like I'm looking for trouble, all I want is to go outside."

"I know, but you also know that that's not gonna happen given your misfortune ability."

"Alright fine, but no spying."

"But-"

"Shokuhou, I'm serious."

The look in his eyes was unmistakable they were that of someone who was not going to take no for an answer.

"***Sigh*** Alright fine"

"Thank you, now if you don't mind I'm getting outta here?"

Misaki waved them off as they started to walk away, it took all of her willpower to let them as they left her line of view.

"***Sigh*** Touma, I hope you know what you're doing."

* * *

"Umm...Kamijou-sama, where are we going?"

"S-Somewhere?"

Truth be told he had no idea. All he really wanted to do was to leave the hospital but, now he had to find something to do for the rest of the day.

And after several minutes of walking, he quickly learned how hard it was to actually make plans.

"Oh, you still have that same phone"

"Mh-hmm, it's not anything particularly elegant but it's enough for me."

She smiled as she showed off her Gekota phone. Which while not very elegant for her cost more than Touma's current wardrobe 50,000 yen!

Seriously, no joke. Look it up. That much for a kid's flip phone.

"Well as long as you're happy….oh, by the way, how did the whole club thing work out anyway?"

"Wonderful, I actually got a new member."

"Really, who?"

She grinned as she perused through her phone to show her a picture of Mikoto.

"Oh, yeah that makes sense, I always knew Biri Biri liked that kind of stuff."

"Biri Biri?" She tilted her head slightly, unsure what he meant.

"Oh, you know like the onomatopoeia for electricity. I also call her Zapper but I think the new one rolls off the tongue better, you know?"

"You shouldn't make fun of people, you know."

"I umm...no it's not like that I mean, were both friends, so it's all good, please stop looking at me like I just bullied a kid."

"Hmm, what the hell are you doing here?"

They both turned around to see a skinny teen who had pale skin, moppy white hair, and red eyes, he wore a black shirt with a white V pattern on it.

"Yuki, what are you doing here?"

"Tch! Are seriously gonna keep calling me that!"

The boy simply responded with a blank look as he shrugged.

"Ahhh, Kamijou-sama who's your friend?"

"Oh, that's right you've never met before, this is Yuki."

"Tch! My names not-"

"It's a pleasure to meet you Yuki-san"

Accelerator was going to start cursing her out before he noticed the phone in the girl's hands.

"I-Is that a frog?"

"Gekota is not a frog."

"..."

Something clicked inside the misfortunate boy's head as he turned to face him "Oh no."

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

* * *

"My Queen, you told me to call if I ran into any unforeseen circumstances, and well Kamijou-sama ran into his friend."

"Which one, the blue haired one or the blonde? In either case, keep your distance from them."

"Oh neither of them, his friend's name was Yuki."

"Yuki?"

"Mmmm, they had white hair and red eyes and-"

"WHAT!? HE'S AWAKE!?"

Junko flinched as she pulled the phone away from her ear, "I-Is something the matter?"

"Under no circumstances are you to let them out of your sight!"

"If he's that dangerous why don't I just ask him to leave."

As much as Misaki wanted her to do that, she also didn't want to be the reason why Junko found herself in an early grave.

"N-No, don't do that, just keep an eye on them, I'm counting on you Junko."

"You can count on me, my Queen." She then hung up the phone

"Hey, giant ringlet curl girl and extreme Gekota-phile where the hell were you two going anyways?"

A small tick mark appeared on her forehead. Usually, Junko was one of the kindest people you'd ever meet but, his constant remarks about her tastes were starting to get on her nerves.

"I don't know, and can you please-"

He then turned to Touma "So where the hell are we going?"

"Mmmm...how about the arcade?"

"Ehhhh?"

"Ugh, why the hell would I wanna go there, the only thing different about going there is that there'd be more people to annoy the hell out of me."

"Ummmm…..what about the pool?"

"I, umm I'm still here you know."

She was ignored.

"No."

"Fine then what do you wanna do?"

"I don't know?"

"I uh actually have an idea."

She was further ignored.

"Ugh...hey what about you Hokaze-san? Do you have any ideas?"

Junko's face lit up as her existence was finally acknowledged.

"Yes actually, what if we all went to a cafe? That way we can all talk and relax" This was usually her go to.

The two of them stared at her as though she was delusional.

Accelerator was the first to speak up, "What color is the sky in your world?"

* * *

As the three of them walked through the streets Junko actually thought she was making progress in talking with Yuki.

Granted that it was mostly him throwing backhanded insults at her tastes with Kamijou stepping up for her every once in a while when his insults hit too close to home. But all in all, she felt as though she was making progress.

She then glanced over at a poster on the wall that they were passing and saw that it was decorated with Gekota themed design.

Her inner child kicked in and she stopped walking for a moment to read the sign.

Apparently, the carnival had a game where you could win a **Rare** extra large Gekota Plushie, along with 2 free tickets to Gekota land.

"Hey, Kamijou what if we…..where did everybody go?"

She looked up and down the street and found no one.

Her face became paler as the fact dawned on her that she'd lost Kamijou in only 10 short minutes.

"Uh oh"

* * *

**Part 6**

"Huh? Where did Hokaze-san go?"

Touma looked around on the bus they boarded and quickly realized that she was nowhere in sight.

"Hmm. Lost track of the Gekota-phile already."

Touma shot him an annoyed look, "Hey she's a nice person."

He simply gave a small smirk. "Yeah, I bet….."

"What the hell are you smiling about Yuki."

"Three words…..that never works"

Touma's entire face turned pale as he went into a coughing fit.

* * *

As Junko frantically dashed through the streets at superhuman speeds using her ability, **Rampage Dress** she couldn't find a trace of either of them.

"Oh no, Oh no, Oh no, Oh no, Oh no!"

(AHHH! What's Misaki going to say when I tell her that I lost them within 10 minutes! Calm down. Calm down, it's not as bad as it looks Kamijou-sama a very capable person what's the worst that could happen to him?)

A quick flashback of all the times Junko heard from Misaki that Kamijou went to hospital ran through her head.

"..."

It can be said that there is no greater motivator than fear.

In a flash, a purple blur made its way through the streets of Academy City.

* * *

"Well from the looks of it she's not here either."

Touma looked side to side to try to find any trace of the girl but just as the wind blows silently, she was nowhere to be seen.

The two of them had gotten off at the bus's first stop and walked back to try to find her.

"Why don't you just call her?"

"I gave her my phone to charge, she always has one of those portable chargers on her and before you ask I never memorized her number"

"Tch! How much longer are we gonna keep looking?"

"Well it's not like I'm worried about her, she's a Level 4, after all, it's just that I promised I'd let her tag along."

Accelerator rolled his eyes.

"Don't you roll your eyes at me Yuki!"

As they continued walking down the street they both started to pass what looked to be a purple car that had the logo **'Big Spider'** tagged on the side of it.

From the looks of it, there were 2 people acting as a lookout for whatever was happening in the alley.

Touma extended his hand in front of his friend to stop him.

"Shhh, do you hear that."

Even from this distance, they could hear what was going on from alleyway.

"Would you assail me, knowing that I am Kongo Mitsuko of Tokiwadai Middle School"

Touma grimaced as he could hear them all begin to make fun of the way she talks.

He knew all too well that most people from that school lived sheltered lives and didn't fully grasp the world outside of the Gardens.

He then began marching towards the alleyway when one of the two thugs who were lookout noticed him.

"What the hell you think you doing here kid!? Get lost if you don't want me to kick your ass!"

Touma clenched his fist as he began approaching him.

Seeing this Accelerator sighed, "Oh for the love of….ARGH!"

A loud ear-piercing sound filled the air whatever it was almost caused Accelerator to collapse onto the ground. If it wasn't for the fact that only moments later the sound stopped as he raised his vector reflection up against soundwaves.

For whatever amount of time, this took him, Touma had already gone into the alleyway.

When Accelerator finally managed to walk over he was met with Touma standing over 5 unconscious thugs with a multitude of different injuries.

However, a few things immediately stood out to the young albino esper, First, Touma was princess carrying some middle school girl in his arms who was unconscious and he was with a tall, muscular man with wavy red hair who was carrying a black leather jacket.

It looked as though they were talking about something though he couldn't hear since he was reflecting all sounds from reaching him.

His presence was soon noticed as they waved to him.

Accelerator cautiously stopped reflecting the sound waves as he approached the two of them.

"Hey, are you alright Yuki?"

"Tch! I'm fine, what the hell happened to her?"

"I was just asking Kurozuma-senpai about that, apparently it was the sound from earlier. I'm guessing that this little ojou-sama couldn't handle it and passed out."

Accelerator then turned to Kurozuma and narrowed his eyes, "Who exactly are you and how do you know this?"

Unlike Touma, he was far less trusting of new people.

The man simply smiled and chuckled slightly, "Sure, I'm Kurozuma Wataru and I'll tell you everything you wanna know but first, can you call Judgement and make sure that girl gets some medical attention I don't want her getting sick or anything, I really don't know the specifics of how it works just that it hurts espers."

Touma nodded, "Sure, hey Yuki can I borrow your phone?"

Accelerator begrudgingly passed him his phone not once letting this new person out of his sight.

* * *

**Part 7**

**Judgment Office 177**

After the past few eventful days, Mikoto was glad that she was finally able to get some peace and quiet. Except she really wasn't, in fact, she'd used the excitement of the last few days as an excuse not to visit Touma in the hospital.

She didn't know how to face him after finding out that he and Shokuhou were a couple. I mean how is that even possible? She's a manipulative person who uses her powers for her convenience and he was a kind person and has a strong sense of justice. And what's worse was she couldn't bear looking at his face again after he completely broke his mind. How could she keep quiet about this? Even though she hated everything Shokuhou stood for she still felt guilty about not telling her about this.

She knew she couldn't keep avoiding it as Index kept hounding her about it and her friends were no different, well except Kuroko.

Though that all changed when she got a phone call from her new club president.

Apparently, there was something she needed help with and she wanted to meet her at the Judgement Offices.

She sounded worried.

Mikoto sighed as she sat patiently on the couch.

"What could Hokaze-san need help with?"

As Kuroko shuffled through various files on her desk she answered, "Hmmm..I don't really know Onee-sama, what I'm more curious about is why she went to you for help?"

"What'd you mean?"

"I mean she's the number two of Shokuhou's clique, why would she go to you for help when she has that big of a network."

Before Mikoto could give a reply a series of knocks came from the door.

The moment Mikoto answered it she was greeted by Junko who looked like a nervous wreck.

"Hokaze-san, what happened!?"

It took a moment for her to respond.

"I-I need your help finding a missing person."

Hearing this Kuroko immediately teleported closer, "I'm sorry Hokaze-san, but Onee-sama has no jurisdiction over those types of affairs." She then narrowed her eyes towards the poor girl, "So, who's missing?"

"I-I-I"

Mikoto reassuringly held onto her shoulder, "Don't worry, I'll help too."

"I lost Kamijou-sama"

What followed was a fit of laughter from Kuroko.

* * *

Once Kuroko had finished laughing, they all talked about the case.

"I-I just looked away for one second and he was gone."

"H-Hokaze-san, why are you referring to him as though he was a little kid?"

Junko cupped her hands and looked at Mikoto with pleading eyes, "T-The thing is, Kamijou-sama wasn't supposed to come out of the hospital today. He actually snuck out and The Queen asked me to watch him in case he got in any more trouble or his wounds started opening up. Except I got distracted and lost him within 10 minutes."

"I-Is he okay? I mean did he seem alright when you met him today?"

"Yes I believe so, he didn't look injured, maybe a little bit tired but aside from that he seemed alright."

Kuroko then turned to the girl, "So why are you here? I mean with all of the resources at Shokuhou's disposal, why did you come here?"

Junko began to twiddle with her thumbs, "I-It's just...No one is supposed to know Kamijou-sama exists, so I can't just ask for their help and I can't go back to the Queen telling her that I lost him so quickly after she put all her trust in me, I just want to find him first and then tell her. And since he said that he was your friend I assumed you already knew."

Suddenly in the background, a phone began ringing and Kuroko went over to pick it up.

Mikoto turned to Junko and smiled, "Don't worry we'll find him, besides what's the worst that could happen to him?"

* * *

"Okay if you guys don't mind, I'm headed off to take down Big Spider."

Touma then began walking off to **The Strange **an area located within District 10.

"Whoa, Whoa, Whoa slow down there man, I know you got heart but, what's the rush? I told you didn't I, I have a plan that to take them down but it'll take some time. There's no need to kill yourself over this."

Touma stood there looking at him for a moment, "You're right I'd probably die if I went in there right now, but tell me this Kurozuma-senpai, can you be sure that no one else will get hurt while we wait for your plan?"

"..."

"I know it may seem rash but, I've seen what this kind of hate leads too, the type of hate where people blame their own shortcomings on the victories of others. If I just sit back and wait for someone else to fix this problem and someone else got hurt I wouldn't be able to live with myself, I made a promise that I'd never pass on the responsibility to save someone's life to someone else and I don't intend to break that promise right now, thanks for telling me about this but, I think I got it from here."

Kurozuma smiled, "Heh, you got heart kid, I'll give you that but, seeing as you have no idea where Big Spider is keeping their equipment you'll need someone to show you."

Touma smiled, "Okay then let's go."

"Hey hold up a minute, what about me? Don't think I'm just gonna follow you into some petty gang war."

Touma had a quizzical look on his face, "I never asked you to come, Yuki."

Accelerator stood there shocked, "What!? Why?"

Touma smiled at him, "I know you don't like fighting people, so I don't want to force you to do anything you're uncomfortable with, besides what kind of a friend would I be if I asked you to risk your life over something like this. Bye"

His words were genuine. There was no hidden alternative or agenda in sight. He truly just cared for his friend's well-being.

He watched them as they began to walk away.

"..."

_('I'm not good with people, in fact, me talking to him was probably the longest conversation I ever had with another human being. At first, I just got close to him because I thought it might lead me to get stronger but now…)_

When you pretend to feel a certain way you might find yourself truly feeling that way.

_('Why don't I know anymore….')_

That's when it finally clicked in his head.

It wasn't that he didn't know how to interact with others. It was that no one else ever tried to interact with him.

Except him.

For as long as he could remember his life was just filled with others using him for one reason or the other. Whether that be for science or for glory.

He didn't care about any of that. He didn't see the strongest esper in the world, all he saw was his friend…..

Friend?

"..."

Before he could process what was going on he could already see them getting closer.

Why?

He looked down and could see his legs begin to move forward.

"***sigh*** Wait up."

* * *

As Junko, Kuroko, Konori, and Mikoto made it to the scene of an esper attack they were surprised to see that the victim in all of this was completely uninjured apparently someone had placed a call to Judgment as soon as she fainted.

When Kuroko walked into the alley and saw that it was filled with a multitude of unconscious thugs.

Kuroko then turned to her superior Konori.

"This would appear to put a stop to the recent surge in esper hunts being conducted by **Skill-Out, **wouldn't you say Konori-senpai?"

She didn't respond immediately as she looked to be in deep thought.

"Who would have thought that they'd be foolish enough to actually go after Kongo Mitsuko. It wouldn't have mattered how many of them ganged up on her Level 0 stray dogs are no match for a Level 4."

Her condescending attitude didn't go unnoticed by Mikoto as she shook her head disapprovingly.

"I uh…..didn't mean it like that Onee-sama, please stop looking at me like I just did a faux pas…..you're breaking my heart ***sniff***"

Konori finally began to speak up, "Regardless it didn't happen like that. According to what she said, she was unable to use her ability for some reason. That's when two unidentified people went on the scene and took them out and…...Tamezo?"

Konori then watched as two paramedics carried one of the thugs away.

"Konori-senpai?"

"Oh ah...it's nothing, is Uiharu-san's questioning going well?"

Kuroko then walked over to her friends who were all speaking to Kongo about what she saw.

"After that, I passed out and when I woke up all the thugs were unconscious."

Mikoto clicked her tongue, "There's nothing more despicable than when men gang up on a girl."

Uiharu continued her questioning, "Is there anything else you remember?"

Kongo grasped her head as she tried to remember, "Yes, but I don't know what they're called, those leather articles that those gentlemen who ride on motorcycles wear…"

Junko clapped her hands, "Ohh I know what you're talking about…...though I too don't know the term for it."

Uiharu looked at both of them with awe.

They didn't know what a leather jacket was called.

(A True Ojou-sama)

"Do you mean a leather jacket?"

They both nodded simultaneously, "Yes that's it! One of the men was carrying one, he also had a large spider Tattooed on his back. I remember one of them gently carrying me in their arms away from the alley."

"Do you remember what the gentlemen who carried you looked like?"

Kongo nodded, "There's no way I'd forget that man. He had black spiky hair, he had a warm and kind pair of eyes with an infectiously positive smile." She blushed slightly remembering how he carried her to safety.

"..."

Junko's face became as pale as a ghost as she reached for her phone to show Kongo a picture of Touma, "I-I-Is this the gentlemen in question?"

"Yes, that's it! Do you know this gentleman?"

"..."

"H-Hokaze-san it's okay you don't need to cry...Kuroko stop laughing!"

"Hahahaha, not even an hour on the streets and the troglodyte already joined a gang!"

Mikoto tried her best to comfort Junko but Kuroko's laughing wasn't helping.

"AHHH! … AHHH! … AHHH! …"

"Hokaze-san, there's no need to freak out I'm sure-"

Junko had finally snapped.

"THIS WASN'T HOW TODAY WAS SUPPOSED TO TURN OUT! WE WERE SUPPOSED TO GO TO A CAFE AND TALK, BUT I TOOK MY EYES OFF HIM FOR ONE SECOND AND HE WENT OUT AND JOINED A GANG! MISAKI IS GOING TO KILL ME!"

Everyone on the scene turned to see her meltdown.

"H-Hokaze-san please calm down."

Junko was hugging her head and screaming.

"WE HAVE TO FIND HIM!"

During all of this Kuroko never stopped laughing, that is until the sound of electricity could be heard crackling overhead.

* * *

**Part 8**

"So that's the plan"

Accelerator looked Touma curiously, "Since when did you become an expert in gang wars? Not that it's a bad plan it's just…."

Touma chuckled as he stopped walking.

The two of them stopped as they saw Touma point his hand towards the sky.

"I Kamijou Touma have a dream, I'm going to stop Big Spider, and get this weapon off the streets. And then I'm going to become a Gang Star!"

"What!?"

Touma tilted his head confused, "You don't get it? It's part 5."

"Ohh I get." Kurozuma nodded.

"You do!? What the hell is part 5!?" Accelerator demanded.

"Jojo's"

There was a long pause as Accelerator took all of this in.

"YOU'RE BASING OUR ENTIRE PLAN ON A FUCKING MANGA!"

"Whoa, Whoa, Whoa it's Jojo's"

"That's it, I'm going home."

"Nope, sorry Yuki you're here till the end now, you even begged us to bring you along."

"Tch! Whatever, so in the end, your plan is to kick the wannabe Kurozuma's ass"

"Yep"

"Is this how you usually solve most of your problems?" Accelerator questioned.

"Yeah, usually it works 9 out of 10 times."

"What about the 1 out 10?"

"Ohh, I get my butt kicked."

Accelerator rubbed his temples, "That surprisingly makes a lot of sense."

Touma nodded, "By the way Kurozuma-senpai why did you start a gang? You don't seem the type."

Kurozuma started to laugh, "Yeah you're right about that, it was never really a gang to start with more like a friends get together kind of thing, the only reason they called us a gang was because we would fight guys who would pick on other people."

"Then what were the leather jackets for?"

"Heh, to look cool of course."

"***sigh*** So how did that become this?" Accelerator questioned.

"Well you see, a while back I got badly hurt and everybody thought I died, that's when Hebitani Tsuguo took over. He was a good guy when I was still there but once I left he took the gang in an entirely new direction, he started claiming he was me to keep the gang from dissolving and used his new position to start hunting down innocent people."

Kurozuma looked downtrodden for a moment, "From what I heard he started making shady backroom deals in order to get his hands on **Capacity Down. **Now that he's got it he started using it to hunt down high-level espers in order to boost whatever sick morale he instilled into the gang. When I heard about this I knew I had to put a stop to it, so I came out of the hospital and started tracking down all the Capacity Down equipment he got and stopped as many as those guys as I could."

Accelerator looked to be in deep thought, "Capacity Down? So whatever backroom deals, your so-called friend made must have been with someone important. If I had to take a guess they were using them as a test subject to test out Capacity Down without getting their own hands dirty. Heh, given a few more days they would've gotten all the data they needed and took care of them."

"I know, that's why I was so adamant in stopping them. As misguided as they may be, no one deserves to die like that."

The three then made it to the border of The Strange.

* * *

**Judgement Office 177**

After managing to coax Junko down. They all went back to the Judgement Office to review what happened. Apparently, the gang that was in the Alley was Big Spider.

"Big Spider?" Kuroko asked.

Uiharu nodded, "Yes from Miss Kongo's testimony we were able to find a link to Kurozuma Wataru. Big Spider is a rather well-known faction of Skill-Out, apparently 2 years ago Big Spider started expanding their influence. It was right at that time when they started using weapons, they carried out repeated criminal offenses."

Konori seemed to be at a loss from hearing this.

"The leader is named Kurozuma Wataru, he appears to be someone who has no qualms in backstabbing his friends."

Kuroko clicked her tongue, "In other words, he's a real scumbag"

Konori clenched her fist at this.

"Wait, wasn't this the man who saved Kongo-san? Why would he do something like that?" Mikoto questioned.

"What if it was just a falling out?"

Junko shook her head, "I very much doubt that even if Kamijou-sama were to join a gang he would save Kongo-san regardless."

Uiharu then popped her head up, "I managed to find their base of operations. It's in the Strange it's an area apart of District 10."

"So, are we going?"

Kuroko thought about it "Well it's outside of our Jurisdiction, but since a case like that happened in our district we should be able to make it stick, what do you say Konori-senpai?"

Without even looking up from her laptop, Konori replied, "I'm sorry but I must get these reports completed today."

"Huh?"

Mikoto grinned, "Well, let's go."

"Onee-sama!"

Junko nodded, "I agree with Misaka-san. Let's go"

"Yeah! We're pitch hitting for Konori-senpai! Come on Kuroko!"

* * *

**The Strange**

Touma crouched behind a dumpster in front of the Warehouse that stored most of the Capacity Down equipment as he surveyed the area. From what he could tell there was no one there.

"So let's go over a plan. You and Yuki cause a distraction and while you do that I'll sneak into the building undetected and one by one break all of the Capacity Down equipment. If all goes smoothly, this should be simple."

Touma then looked around and saw he was missing one team member.

"Hey, Kurozuma. Where'd Yuki go?"

***TAP***

They both turned around to see the entire warehouse get swallowed up by a giant chasm while Accelerator stood there in front of it all nonchalantly yawning while a multitude of thugs questioned their life choices.

"What's next?"

It was here that both of them felt some sort of pity for them.

"W-We'll now we just gotta challenge the wannabe Kuruzuma."

Accelerator rolled his eyes, "Alright let's get this over with."

The trio then found themselves in a rundown building with the words Big Spider Tagged on the side.

Before entering Accelerator spotted another car that had the sound system rigged with the Capacity Down Equipment.

In a second, he picked up a pebble and threw it at the car.

***BOOOM!***

Suffice to say the car was thoroughly and utterly obliterated as it went up against a pebble moving at the speed of sound.

Without skipping a beat the three of them marched up to the front door where Kurozam kicked in the front door.

"AHHHHH WHAT THE HELL!?" Tsuguo cried out.

Tsuguo had his signature leather jacket with his hair in a punch perm, from the look on his face, he was utterly terrified.

Tsuguo then turned to see one of the men who broke in, "B-But you're supposed to dead!?"

"Hebitani, long time no see."

Tsuguo then began to back up panicked at the sudden turn of events.

"There's no way you could survive something like that!"

"Okay, fine I'm a ghost then, doesn't change the outcome all that much anyways, these kids have a lot of heart you see."

"G-Ghost!? If you're a ghost then, why don't you go back to your grave! Go on men let them have it!"

***Tap***

Before a single thug could attack they were all flung from the ground into the wall at high speeds knocking them out.

"Y-You idiots turn on the Capacity Down!"

One of the thugs then turned to him with a ghastly pale face, "W-We can't they're all gone! Someone destroyed all of them including the one in the warehouse."

Accelerator then raised his hand, "Guilty."

Kuruzuma then cracked his neck, "Quick, say a snappy one-liner."

Accelerator looked at him dumbfounded, "Are you freaking kidding, what kind of an idiot would say-"

Touma then clenched his fist as he pointed it at Tsuguo, "Clench your teeth you wannabe thug because I'm gonna shatter that fucked up illusion of yours!"

"Goddammit"

* * *

As the Mikoto walked through The Strange she couldn't believe how quiet it was. Granted every corner was graffitied and all the cleaning robots were destroyed, but still, you'd think you'd run into someone.

"Hey Hokaze-san, I've been meaning to ask you about Shokuhou."

Junko tilted her head slightly, "What about?"

She fumbled with her words for a moment, "H-How did they become a couple? I mean I don't get."

"Onee-sama, why do you sound so disappointed."

"I-I'm not! I'd just like to know that's all."

Junko smiled as she remembered. "Well, I believe they first met last summer and ever since that they were inseparable, actually it was only a month or two ago that Kamijou-sama asked the Queen for a relationship."

Both Mikoto and Kuroko's mouth gaped open, "Seriously!?"

Junko nodded, "I remember he gave me a letter to give to the Queen to ask her for a date. She was so thrilled when she received it."

Kuroko raised her eyebrows, "Wait he gave the letter to you?"

Junko nodded, "Yes, he was so nervous when he did so too."

It then dawned on both of them what actually happened.

Before any of them could say another word two thugs came running down the streets towards them. From the look on their faces, it seemed as though they stared death straight in the face.

"AHHHH!"

"W-What's wrong!? What happened!?"

One of the thugs fainted before he could reach them with the other barely able to stand, "T-They came out of nowhere! They came in and took down all of Big Spider!"

Junko turned pale, "They have to be talking about someone else, right?"

"One of the guys said he was gonna shatter our illusions before he started fighting with the boss."

"..."

Within seconds Junko activated Rampage Dress and zipped through the streets like a blur.

"Kuroko what're you doing?"

"Calling for backup."

***BANG***

* * *

The fight, if you could call it that was a complete massacre for Big Spider. Many of them tried to run away but they quickly found themselves blocked off by the Number 1 esper in Academy City as Kuruzama began beating them all to a pulp. The only thing left to do was to deal with the boss who was currently fighting Touma.

"I-I'm warning you bastard! I'll kill you!" Tsuguo then pulled out a gun and pointed it at Touma's face.

Touma stared him down "Tch! Is that how you're able to feel good about yourself, you bastards always say that the reason you do things was that you were afraid that espers would use their powers to oppress you."

He then took another step closer.

"I-I'm warning you!"

"Yet, you go out actively hunting down innocent people who haven't done anything wrong!"

Even though Tsuguo had the gun in his hands he still backed up. "You don't know jack!"

"That's why I'm gonna shatter that fucked up Illusion of yours!"

***BANG***

As the bullet fired from the gun Touma never once faltered as he began to run towards him.

The bullet must have missed his face by only a few millimeters.

***THWACK***

Touma could hear the sound of Tsuguo's jaw breaking as his fist landed on his face.

Everyone on the scene had stopped what they were doing once Tsuguo had fired his gun and the shock on all there faces was apparent as they saw the Boss of Big Spider skid across the ground a good 3 meters from where he was.

At the sight of this, all of the remaining thugs gave into their despair and surrendered.

"***Pant*** Is there anyone else!"

"..."

"***Pant *Pant*** Good! If I see anyone of you guys ever use something like this again then I'll be back and I won't rest until I beat the hell out of all of you guys!"

Kuruzuma smiled, "Well kid, I gotta say this went better than I could've expected."

Before Touma could say another word he was spear tackled by familiar Gekota-phile, "Kamijou-sama!"

"EHHHH! Hokaze-san, what are you doing here?"

"Oh you finally showed up Gekota-phile, I was wondering what happened to you."

Junko sighed, "I heard the gunshot are you okay?"

"Y-YEAH I'm fine. Hey, what's that sound?"

Accelerator looked up, "Hmm from the sound of it, it's Anti Skill."

Both Junko and Touma's face turned pale, "We have to get out of here!"

Just as all of them were going to make a run for it Kuruzuma stood still.

"Eh!? Kurozuma-senpai what're you doing!? We gotta get out of here!"

Kuruzuma smiled at them, "Heh, sorry no can do, a good captain always goes down with his ship."

Accelerator stared at him, "What the hell are you spouting on about?"

"You see, I was the one who made Big Spider, even if they twisted it like this, it's still my responsibility to handle, thanks for helping me guys, I know it was only for less than a day but, it felt really good to fight beside people who I'd call my friends. So get outta here! I'll make sure nobody escapes while Anti-Skill comes."

Touma looked at him with awe, "Kurozuma-senpai!"

"Hmmm?"

"I don't think you need that leather jacket to look cool, you're already more than enough as it is."

Kurozuma smiled as he took off his jacket and threw it at him, "Here a little going away present from me, you should have it anyways kid."

Touma smiled as he took the jacket and ran.

They all looked back and saw him standing there like a guardian with his back pointed towards them emphasizing the giant spider Tattooed on his back.

"Kamijou-sama who was that man?"

Touma smiled, "He's just a good guy."

* * *

**Part 9**

**A Certain Hospital**

Once the new trio finally managed to escape District 10 they were finally able to breathe easy.

Eventually, Touma filled in Junko to all the details that she'd missed and she did the same.

Touma rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "I'm sorry if I made you worry honest. It's just, I couldn't just stand back and watch those guys as they targeted people just because of their ranking…"

"It's quite alright really, I'm just glad you're alright is all."

Junko then sighed as she began walking towards the hospital.

Touma then looked over at the city. The Sunset light illuminated over Academy City's technology like diamonds do to light, filling the air with a rich orange color.

Touma then turned his head and saw Accelerator, "Hey thanks for today."

"Whatever."

"By the way, remember what I said to you a couple of days ago, about not knowing who you are anymore?"

"Yeah, what about it?"

"Well, I think you're wrong. Even if you don't know what's real or what's not, I know in my heart what is. Because the things that are real for me is the feeling I get from helping people. Even if I don't know what's going on anymore that feeling still motivates this version of me. I might not know what's real or not but, I know this feeling in my heart is. And I think that's enough for me. Even if my entire life was a lie…..I'd still be okay because of this feeling I have in here. And because of that I know, I'm Kamijou Touma."

Accelerator looked at the smiling boy curiously, "Whatever you say."

Touma then gave off a small chuckle, "Heh, sorry if I got sappy there for a second. But in all honesty, this day turned out to be really nice, hell I even got a new leather jacket."

Accelerator stared at him, "Are you just gonna forget about the part where the guy almost blew your brains out?"

Unknown to them a fair maiden had a tick mark grow on her head.

"Heh, yeah but it all turned out okay in the end. Hey, why do you look so shocked Yuki?"

Accelerator's eyes widened, "Huh, I guess she is real."

"What're you-"

Suddenly Touma felt a cold shiver run down his spine as someone touched his shoulder.

"Touma….What's this I hear about you joining a gang?" The aura she gave off was one that should not be trifled with.

"I-uh you got it all wrong you see-"

"Did my hearing ability also fail me when I overheard the two of you talking about how you almost got shot."

"I-uh...Yuki where are you going!?"

Accelerator waved him off as he walked back into the hospital laughing, "Heh, A good captain always goes down with his ship, right?"

(You MOTHERF-)

"Touma…"

"Y-Yes?"

"I think we're going to need to have a long talk about this."

"Such Misfortune."

* * *

**Epilogue**

Once Miskai had finished giving him the riot act about abandoning Junko. She was far more forgiving about his actions regarding Big Spider. She understood why he did it and even praised him for it. Once that was done he told her about his day and they said their goodbyes.

As Touma laid there in his bed he was reading the last Manga he had left.

"***Sigh***"

That's when he heard a knock on the door.

"Um...come in."

In stepped Misaka Mikoto the third-ranked Level 5 Esper in Academy City.

"Hey, sorry about not coming to visit earlier it's just...I had other things I needed to do first. So, how are you feeling?"

Touma gave her a genuinely warm smile, "Good, thanks for asking…...Biri Biri"

The sounds of electricity crackling and glass shattering echoed through the hallways. Along with the sounds of two kids laughing.


	22. Chapter 22 Summertime Blues

**Thank you for reading a Certain Scientific Counter. And Thank you to everyone who commented it honestly helps me get more ideas for future ideas and Plotlines. I'd also like to thank my Beta reader Graesok for helping me edit the Chapter. Now without further ado Q&A**

**Aminadab Brulle- I'm glad you liked the chapter. t was fun to write lines for Junko since she's always been a sweet person so I thought, The best way to solve it would be to have her interact with someone like Yuki. And Deep blood not yet.**

**Anti-Mage 29- Big Spider and JoJo's what's not to love. And I'm glad you're getting excited about the Deep Blood Arc. And they would be good friends if they just looked past their differences and saw the other for who they really were.**

**Fortitude501- Well what did you expect? Misaki wasn't gonna let her prince sleep in a room that he complained about. And maybe, hopefully, he won't have to be hospitalized so much that all the staff know him as that guy who always comes here. And Index would be good at card games since she never forgets and can count cards. She sucks at magic because she can't use it except for that one song and Spell Intercept. And Accelerator's new name...Oh and Junko lost him like this, 5 minutes walking away 2 minutes in meeting Yuki and 3 minutes until she gets distracted by Gekota and they get on the bus without her. Jojo, enough said. Add another one to the infected list! And yeah when I watched that arc I was like Touma could solve this in like a day. I mean think about a some of the light novels most of them literally take place in a day. This guy's month is insane. Accomplice by inaction indeed. And now he knows the truth. World Boss.**

**D. -Read and find out. And yeah they do have a good dynamic when they're together. Those guys never stood a chance.**

**Nazarioneo- Step aside Giorno this unlucky kid also has a Dream.**

**tsun- Thank you for the compliment and yeah I always thought they'd be good friends.**

**Ril Noyama-**

**STAND NAME {IMAGINE DRAGONS}**

**ABILITY-SHATTER ILLUSIONS- the user is able to negate and counter any and all supernatural phenomena by touch. However, when disarmed the stand automatically becomes a REQUIEM STAND.**

**STATS**

**RANGE-E**

**DURABILITY-N/A**

**SPEED-C**

**DEVELOPMENT POTENTIAL-N/A**

**DESTRUCTIVE POWER-N/A**

**I really liked this comment thanks.**

**Rajarshi Sakar- I really liked that skit and even thought about adding something like that in my first draft but decided against it at the last moment. Still though really funny. Thank you.**

**Nameless- Thank you those were some of my favorite parts to write. And what!?**

**Nameless-Perhaps.**

**Chris- As always I like your recap. Sad to say that wouldn't work as Accelerator is the only one that can safely reach Level 6. ANd Index is OP in Memory games like poker! She's counting cards! She's rain man! Touma the rebel I like it! Junko's the unsung hero of this chapter for babysitting Touma. ANd yeah Touma's got that secondary Stand KILLER OF QUEENS! And they never really stood a chance Kurozuma was confident that he could've soloed them in the anime so adding these was like trying to put out a small match with a tanker of gasoline. Thank you for the review.**

**Ryder- Well now you do. And thank you for the compliment.**

**Yakutsu Zaishiro-True and now you get to binge read this story again. Yay!**

**One Punch Touman- I do. It's like Ojou's just love him.**

**One punch Touman- Yep get ready to run Touma or not it's your choice really.**

**Nguyen Thanh Long- They weren't there during the anime so I'm guessing at a swim meet. Touma stop raising flags!? That's like asking a fish not to swim it just comes naturally. A New Flag has been raised Kongo Mitsuko.**

**No-one-Thank you! I always knew they'd be good friends.**

**Savior555- I'm glad you do. Yeah Nobody can beat the girl with a perfect memory *Cough* she's counting cards. And don't worry you'll see them interact some more. And Touma questioning his sense of self. Yuki never had anybody growing up so yeah accepting something like that is gonna be hard but Touma can shatter that illusion! And yeah the reason I only put it in a paragraph was that I was gonna reveal what really happened later. You can probably figure it out now but you'd have to read over the last couple of chapters to figure it out. And Junko is 1 maybe 2 years younger at most. She's a 3rd year in middle school and Touma is a first year in Highschool cannoticlty she's older than Misaki, maybe? And yeah Yuki really likes pushing peoples buttons. And side story more like a side quest. The entire segment took only a couple of hours to resolve. Yeah, Misaka is in one. The reason she has a picture of him is because of Misaki and group photos. OP doesn't even begin to describe that fight. It's like a Level 100 taking on hordes of Level 1s never gonna happen man never. And You'll see. The first steps are important but the most important thing is to keep going forward. And Misaki the WORLD BOSS. And Thank you for the review. Don't worry I like big reviews.**

**DATONEGUY-Saame And thank you for the compliment.**

* * *

**Summertime Blues**

**August 1**

**Early Morning**

It was the day that Touma had been waiting for ever since he got admitted to the hospital. It was time to go home.

As he began to wake up from his bed he reflected over the past few days for a bit, there were bad times, but there were also good times and because of that, he wouldn't change a damn thing about it.

As he stepped out of his hospital room he grabbed his bag and began to his walk back to his apartment, but he had one more stop to make on his way home.

* * *

**Accelerator's Room**

Accelerator's eyes shot open as he heard knocking on his door.

There weren't many people who even dared to try to wake him up, so he knew it had to be…

"Hey Yuki, how ya doing?"

"Tch! What the hell do you want? It's way too early in the morning to deal with you again." Accelerator moaned.

The Misfortunate boy simply rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "Hehe, I just wanted to say goodbye is all, today's the day I get let out."

"Good for you. Now if you don't mind I'm going back to sleep."

"Sorry if I woke you, I was just wondering if you wanted to hang out later today, you know since you're allowed to leave the hospital and all. I just gotta take care of a few things first."

Not even lifting his head off the pillow Accelerator responded, "Yeah sure, whatever just let me go to sleep already."

Touma smiled as he headed out the door, "See ya later Yuki."

"Tch!"

* * *

**Touma's Dorm**

Touma breathed in the fresh air his dorm room had to offer and immediately started to cough.

Turns out leaving your dorm unattended for multiple consecutive days was a recipe to gather dust.

Though this surprised him a lot since he wasn't even gone three days and yet there was so much dust in the air how was this possible.

His questions were finally answered when he looked on the floor of his kitchen. It turns out that the day he left his apartment was the same day he made those English style pancakes that Index wanted and he didn't properly put away the flour so as a result the bag toppled over and spilled all the flour on the ground.

Touma couldn't help but smile a little.

"Such Misfortune"

* * *

**Saten's Dorm **

Once the arduous task of cleaning his dorm was taken care of, he decided to pay a visit to Saten's dorm. He knew taking care of Index was a big responsibility and it didn't really sit right with him that he was forcing her to take care of Index, so he wanted to help out.

Touma had to call Mikoto to ask her Saten's address, something which she wasn't too pleased to give. Maybe he caught her at a bad time since it was so early in the morning.

Touma knocked twice before the sound of someone turning the locks open could be heard from the other side.

The door opened to a tired looking Index. It seemed he had woken her from her slumber as she still had her pink regular style pajamas on.

"***Yawn*** Who is it?...Touma!? What're you doing here?! The last thing I heard was that you joined a gang and…." Index began to glare at him as she bared her teeth at him.

It had seemed that Mikoto hadn't informed Index that he didn't actually join a gang.

"N-No, wait Index, you got it all wrong…..SUCH MISFORTUNE!"

* * *

It turns out his screams of pain had also woken up Saten who helped him wrestle Index off of him.

After a few curious looks from Saten and glares from Index about his involvement in gangs, he explained what really happened and they both sighed in relief.

Turns out they were both told by Kuroko that he had joined a gang and got in a gang war against Big Spider. Which while partly true was far from what actually happened. It was also apparent that neither of them knew where he was yesterday as he wasn't in his Hospital Room and when Index went to visit she got worried.

After hearing a long-winded lecture from Index about how gangs were immoral he could taste the righteousness in the air as she spoke.

Eventually, he coaxed her down by making everyone breakfast.

"Wow, you're a really good cook," Saten commented as she continued to eat her eggs benedict.

She was a lively girl with black hair that went just past her shoulders and that had a single flower decoration in it.

Index nodded as she continued to scarf down her own breakfast.

"Mmm-hmm, Touma's a chef! Touma, show her the golden lighter!"

"Heh, you see…...I kinda lost it."

Both of the girl's eyes widened, "You lost a solid golden lighter?"

Her voice wasn't judgmental, though it was one full of pity as she saw him nod his head

"Ouch."

"Tell me about…..By the way, I'm not one for interior decorating or anything but what's with all the Magical Powered Kanamin merch. Your room looks like you robbed their gift shop."

Saten dryly chuckled, "W-Well you see, I took Index to the store and one thing led to another and now she has all this stuff, we even had to search 15 different stores to find her a purse that had an Anglican Church design, in the end, I just sewed a patch on for her."

Index then proudly presented her new purse. It wasn't anything fancy it was colored white and gold just like her robes and had a small hand sewn the patch on the center of the purse.

"I-I'm sorry."

Saten quickly waved him off, "It's no problem really"

"No, I mean this stuff must have cost a fortune."

"Ohh, that's another thing I wanted to talk about, Index has a bank account now."

"What?"

"Yeah, I didn't feel comfortable carrying all that cash on me, so we went to a bank and I helped Index get her own account."

"How? I mean she doesn't even have her own ID. How'd you manage that?"

"I just got her a **Cash Card** and put the money in that. Academy Cities Laws on Cash Cards are pretty loose. Anyone can get one."

"Okay, but where did she get the money?"

"Misaka told me that Kanzaki gave her a bunch before she left."

(THANK YOU KAORI!)

"Anyways I wanted to thank you for letting Index stay with you, I know she can be a handful."

"Nah don't worry about it besides it was fun hanging out with Index, especially with all she knows about.." Saten looked side to side and whispered. "**Magic**."

"Why are you whispering in your dorm?"

"Ummm, didn't Misaka say we weren't supposed to talk about it?"

"I think she meant in public, besides if you go out there saying magic is real, 9 out of 10 times people are gonna call you crazy."

Saten went to rebuttal put quickly realized that he was right.

"So how are you guys taking the whole 'Magic is real' revelation?"

"Hmmm…..well me and Uiharu believe it, Shirai, on the other hand, l think the only reason she even took it seriously in the first place was that Misaka told her that it was true."

"So you're saying she doesn't buy it?"

Saten nodded.

"I can see that, I didn't believe it at first either, so why did the two of you believe it."

"Well I can't speak for Uiharu but for me, I always believed in far-fetched things like **Urban Legends**."

"Ohh, if you like Urban Legends there's this website online that's full of them."

Saten gasped, "You know about that website too!"

Touma nodded, "I found it when I first met my homeroom teacher. Tell me, did you ever hear of the 7 wonders of Academy City?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Well my teacher's one of them, Although looking like a twelve-year-old child, she's actually a full-grown adult, she even drinks and smokes, heck I even saw her drive a car one time."

"No way! How'd she reach the pedals?"

"She has her own custom car that allows her to drive it through the use of buttons and a joystick."

"That's so cool! Index did you see her too!?"

Index tilted her head, "What are you talking about?"

"Komoe-sensei."

"Ohh yeah! I met her before, she was really nice, even after we blew the roof off her house."

Trying to avoid that topic Saten quickly changed the topic.

"A-Anyways, did you hear the Urban Legend about the **Floating House**?"

"Floating House?"

"Yeah, supposedly there's this house in District 19 that floats everything that's around it. They even say that if you walk to the house you'll be able to float. Except here's the weirdest thing the forum mentioned that it wasn't as though anything was levitating like someone who had telekinesis could do, it was as if it was falling upside down."

"!? Wait did you say falling upside down? I think I saw something like that!"

Saten shrieked with joy.

"Really where!?"

"Well it wasn't in District 19 it was actually here in District 7 when I was finished fighting Kanzaki the road to the hospital was blocked by a giant piece of rubble so I couldn't go through, right as I was about to give up the giant piece of rubble started to fall upside down and the path was clear."

Saten took a moment to think as she turned to Index.

"Hey Index, do you think Magic was the reason why that happened?"

Index stopped eating for a moment to answer her, "Maybe, there are some spells that can do what you two are describing but they all take preparation to accomplish and I doubt Kaori would be able to do it since she was heavily injured at that time."

"So do you think there's another magician in Academy City?"

Touma rubbed the back of his head, " I hope not, though even if that was the case whoever did do that sure helped me out so I don't think they'd be all bad, ya know?"

Saten nodded, "Yeah I see where you're coming from, so what'd you plan on doing today?"

Touma laid back on his chair, "I was thinking I'd volunteer over at **Asunaro Park** again for a little while before heading out again."

Saten raised her eyebrows, "You volunteer?"

"Mm-hm. It was a class assignment a couple of months ago. We all had to volunteer so I opted to go there, at first I thought it was gonna be a hassle but after a couple of days there it was actually kinda fun being able to play with the kids, so every now and again I'd volunteer over there."

Saten smiled.

"Well it just so happens that I also have to go over there to volunteer, hehe my test scores last year were…...anyways the school's making me and Uiharu volunteer there too, I was gonna ask Misaka to watch Index but, since you're coming there shouldn't be any real problem."

Touam smiled, "Index finish eating, we're heading over to Asunaro Park!"

* * *

**Asunaro Park**

Once Touma arrived with Saten and Index, he called Yuki to ask if he wanted to come over, he declined saying he was around enough children as it is. After that, they went inside and began getting to work.

Since Touma was already familiar with the place he showed her everything that was important.

Naturally, Touma bribed Index with Cookies to keep her from bothering them while they worked.

"Kamijou was it such a good idea to bribe Index?"

"Hmm, yeah, besides look at her now."

Saten turned around and watched Index get surrounded by 5 or so small children all staring at the bag of Homemade cookies that Touma gave her.

"Uhh, your plan was to get Index swarmed?"

Touma rolled his eyes, "No look again."

She did and saw Index actually share some of her Cookies with the rest of the kids.

Touma smiled, "She's a sweet person, a little bratty sure but that's just because she lacks any real-world experience. So I wanted to let her mingle with the kids to get a sense of what it's really like."

"Where did you learn that?"

"One of the electives for Home Ec is Child Psychology, comes in pretty handy when I'm dealing with unruly people."

Just then he felt a tug on his shirt and saw Index with a small squad of children behind her.

"Hey Touma, I'm hungry. Can you make us some more cookies?"

Before he could even answer he saw all the children behind her look at him.

"***Sigh*** Alright."

Right before as he entered the kitchen he was stopped by Mr. Diago.

He was a kind and cheerful tall man with dark-bluish hair who also wears glasses and as such was much beloved by his students.

"Kamijou-san could you possible make lunch for the students, they always loved it when you cooked for them."

Touma looked over to see Saten smirking at him as she cleaned up the play area.

"Sure it's fine."

It was gonna be a long day.

* * *

After cooking a large pot of Fried rice for lunch for all of the students Touma heading out to clean the playground with Saten and Uiharu who finally arrived.

Index, on the other hand, had fully assimilated with the children here. Apparently in the short amount of time that he was in the Kitchen she had managed put herself on the top of the hierarchy of the classroom and was now one of the most popular ones there.

"How the heck did that even happen?" Uiharu asked.

Saten shrugged, "Don't know really, I was putting away stuff in the play area when it happened."

Uiharu then looked over a Touma "By the way Kamijou-san, are you okay? I mean you just came out of the hospital and after your run in with Big Spider I thought you'd want a break."

Touma shrugged, "I'm fine, besides I'm happy that things are going back to normal, or at least as normal as they can be."

Uiharu smiled, "By the way Kamijou-san, do you know who that woman is, I feel as though I've seen her somewhere before."

Saten squinted, "Yeah, now that you mention it she does seem familiar. Kamijou you've been here the longest, so you should have her name somewhere in your memory."

Touma turned around to see the woman in question.

She was a tall and slender woman who had shoulder-length brown hair who also wore glasses.

"Hehe, I gotta be honest, I've seen her around here before but…..I don't remember learning her name and even if I did, I've been here for too long to ask her now."

Saten then nervously rubbed her head, "Y-Yeah, s-sorry for bringing that up, Index told us how you lost your memories."

Touma fell silent.

Uiharu then turned to Saten and gave her a look of disapproval, "Saten….."

"..I-It's fine really, besides I didn't even lose that much, just 3 months."

"I-If you say so."

Just as they spoke the woman in question headed left Asunaro Park grounds.

"I wonder where she's going?"

* * *

**Joseph's Coffee and Restaurant**

"***Sigh*** Honestly Onee-sama I don't know why Konori-senpai is giving me the cold shoulder, after what happened in District 10 when we helped take down Big Spider I thought she'd be happy."

Mikoto simply sipped her drink, "I don't know Kuroko maybe it's because of how you tried to blare Touma's name across the Judgement radio to try to find him after he took down Big Spider. Or maybe it was because everyone who was involved kept their mouths shut about Touma and his friend."

Kuroko clicked her tongue, "He had absolutely no right to get involved in the first place! Besides I heard he was responsible for destroying an entire building in The Strange."

Mikoto rolled her eyes, "Now you're just grasping at straws."

"***Sniff**Sniff* **That's cruel Onee-sama, how could you just take his side after everything he put us through."

"What're you talking about?"

"***Sniff*** Nevermind."

Mikoto rolled her eyes. "Whatever, besides I bet what really upset you was when the head resident caught you using your ability."

Kuroko rubbed her neck, "I can still hear the cracking, Tch! Every time she opens her mouth it's rules, rules, rules! She's practically Inhuman."

"Well that's her job isn't it?"

"She doesn't have to go that far! I was just teasing you yesterday Onee-sama, and because of that she cracked my neck!"

Kuroko narrowed her eyes, "She's probably just upset because she's past her marriageable prime."

Mikoto then looked over towards the window and saw the Head resident walking down the street.

Kuroko felt a cold shiver run down her spine as she turned her head.

"Speak of the devil and she shall come."

"Why is she dressed up like that? She usually wears her uniform when she's at the dorm."

Kuroko then slammed her hands on the table.

"It's a man!"

"Huh?"

"Come Onee-sama! We mustn't waste even a second to get leverage on that woman!"

"K-Kuroko, what're you talking about!?"

* * *

"Does Shokuhou-san always call you, Kamijou-san?" Uiharu asked as they continued to clean the playground.

"Pretty much, though I did kinda leave the hospital without telling her."

They both stared at him.

"Hey don't look at me like I'm the bad guy! I only left early so I could get a head start on the day. Besides Misaki has a tendency to sleep in and I didn't wanna wake her."

"..."

Trying to steer the topic somewhere else Touma shifted the conversation to them.

"S-So you guys know Mr. Daigo?"

Uiharu nodded, "He's our teacher, he's the one who suggested we do this in the first place."

(It worked!)

"Anyways, Kamijou tell Uiharu what happened with Big Spider yesterday."

Touma then proceeded to tell them how he Yuki and Kurozuma took down Big Spider.

"So, you got a new leather jacket outta the whole ordeal," Saten asked.

Touma nodded, "Yep"

"Is that your big takeaway from the story Saten?" Uiharu asked.

She was ignored.

"So, where's the Jacket?" Saten asked.

"Oh, I'm actually picking it up later today, Misaki was cool with letting me keep it but she said I had to get it dry cleaned. So that's what I'm gonna do later today."

"I also heard from Index that you're a Gemstone. What's that all about?"

Touma slouched, "No idea, honestly, it's more of a hassle than you'd think. They actually make you do welfare checks every other week so I have to go all the way over to the facility in person."

Saten gave off a weak smile, "It's better than being a level 0."

Touma raised his eyebrow, "And what's wrong with being a Level 0?"

"Huh?"

"I was a level 0 ever since I came to Academy City. And even if they give me some new title it's not gonna change the fact that I'll never be able to be more than what I am."

He then pointed at Saten, "You, on the other hand, can grow, you're a Level 0, so what? It doesn't mean you have to stay that way for the rest of your life. Besides if it bothers you that much then just own up to it, wear that title like armor and it won't be able to hurt you anymore."

Saten smiled, "You sound just like-"

Uiharu then turned over towards the fence and saw Mikoto who was with Kuroko impatiently waving to them, "Shirai!?"

They all then walked over towards the entrance to great them.

Kuroko then looked at her two friends, "What a coincidence seeing you too here, huh?"

"What're you doing here?" Touma asked.

He was ignored.

"Are you guys here volunteering too?" Saten asked.

Mikoto then rubbed the back of her head nervously, "Oh, uh, well ...we were actually-"

"We just wanted to see what kind of man had captured the heart of our head resident" Kuroko declared.

Uiharu then snapped her fingers "That's where I recognized her from. She looks very different now than she did before."

They all then walked towards the window to see The Head resident playing with the children.

"I have never seen the head resident act like that before," Mikoto commented.

"Nor have I, who would've guessed that she volunteers here. I had not the slightest idea that the Great Head Resident was such a kind-hearted lady."

Mikoto then whipped her head towards Kuroko, "Great?"

"***Sniff*** Compared to her we're such.."

Touma then raised his hand "Uhh, we volunteered here too you know?"

He was further ignored.

Kuroko started shaking her fist, "I'm so ashamed that we called her inhuman Onee-sama!"

"Don't wrap me in it too! You were the one who called her that."

They all then leaned in closer to the window to hear what they were saying.

* * *

The head resident was blushing as she spoke with Mr. Daigo.

"I have some of my students here with me today, if they happen to do anything careless please don't hesitate to call them out on it."

The Head Resident blushed even more, "M-M-Mr. Diago, I'm sure none of your students needs calling out…..I-I never even scolded any of my dorm students."

* * *

"LIAR!"

Touma looked at Kuroko with skepticism, "What're you guys talking about? She seems like a nice lady."

Kuroko was trying to not speak to him.

But after that.

She was not silent anymore.

"Listen closely" The aura she gave off was one of a serious nature, "That woman is the reason why everyone in the Tokiwadai dorms always rushes to get back before curfew."

"So, what? Isn't that her job?"

"That's what I said!"

Kuroko's eye twitched, "I don't think you understand…..you've must've heard of her from Shokuhou-san."

"I don't think so. And why are you talking about her like she's the incarnation of evil or something?"

The reason why Misaki never spoke about the Head Resident was quite clear as she hadn't had any run-ins with her since she started dating Touma.

This was mostly because she didn't want to be on her radar.

Mikoto sighed, "It doesn't even matter anyway."

"It matters to me One-sama!"

Mikoto then looked closer in the building, "Is that Index?"

"Yeah, apparently she became their leader or something, heh"

Uiharu then chuckled, "Yeah it's like she's their Queen."

Mikoto turned pale.

Before anyone could see what happened Mikoto had brought Index outside far enough from everyone else so that they wouldn't be able to hear what they said.

"Mikoto when did you get here?" Index asked.

"I-Index, what's going on with all the kids?"

"Hmm...oh Touma said I should play with them, so first I had him make our cookies and I gave them out everyone. After that, more and more people wanted to be around me and I eventually became popular, there are still some kids that aren't friends with me but they'll come around, Misaki was right it's easier than it looks."

Her worst fears had just come into fruition.

She was corrupted.

"L-Listen Index you can't just buy people's friendship."

Index tilted her head, "I'm not though, I'm listening to all their problems and I help them out in solving them after that-"

"Listen Index I know it doesn't seem like you're doing a bad thing but you are."

Index then hesitantly held out the envelope that looked as pristine as if all the wrinkles had been ironed out.

"I'm sorry."

Mikoto raised her eyebrows, "What's this?"

"Money."

"GAHH! If you start shoving money toward me, it makes me look like a bad guy!"

"Touma said you can pay people to make up for problems."

"EHHHH! And where did he get that from!?"

"Misaki."

Mikoto then turned around and scowled at Touma who didn't know what was going on.

Though as she got closer he was quick on the uptake.

"W-What's wrong?"

Her gaze intensified, "What have you been teaching her!?"

Touma gulped, "L-Look I'm sorry it's just that if I didn't tell her about the 5-second rule she would've..."

"Ugh! Not that!"

She then turned around to Index and explained why the 5-second rule was a myth.

Seeing the atmosphere intensify around them the others made the wise decision in backing up a good distance away.

Uiharu then turned to Kuroko, "Shirai why are you ignoring Kamijou?"

Kuroko rolled her eyes, "Because if I don't I might hit him, and I rather like having my mind intact thank you."

"What're you talking about?"

"Shokuhou-san is a Level 5 Telepath and though I have no idea why she would go for someone like him the fact that she did means that if I did anything to him it'll cause a bigger problem than I wanted. For example, I hit him and Shokuhou-san makes me think that I like hitting myself in the face."

"S-She wouldn't do that."

Kuroko turned to Uiharu, "What color is the sky in your world?"

* * *

After getting a lecture from Mikoto in teaching Index the wrong things they all discussed what they were going to do about the Head Resident.

Kuroko opted to help carry out the fruition of the Head Residents love which everyone but Touma agreed to.

"What'd you mean you won't help us?"

"It means what it means, I'm not helping, besides it's not gonna be that simple."

Uiharu then raised her hand "Forcing things like this into place is one of Shirai's terrible talents."

***Thwack* **

"Do you want to get slugged," Kuroko asked

"Please don't wait until after you've done it to ask Shirai" Uiharu whimpered.

"See people are already getting hurt!"

Kuroko rolled her eyes, "Suit yourself, in any case, make yourself useful and take Index with you, we're gonna hold a strategy meeting."

"But I wanna help too!"

Simultaneously Mikoto and Touma said.

"NO!"

* * *

**A Certain Park**

Accelerator wanted to stay in bed after a hectic day of gang warfare he stirred up yesterday but the idiot wouldn't stop bombarding his phone with messages. So eventually he caved in and agreed to meet him at the park. Apparently, he brought the Nun with him and wanted to show her around.

When he got there he could hear the all too familiar sounds of that Nun's whining as she ran in the field.

"AHH! Why'd you throw a ball at me, Touma! What did I ever do to you!?"

"***Sigh*** Index were playing catch. The whole point of the game is to catch the ball."

"What kind of sick game is that!? I don't wanna play, it just gives you a chance to stone me with a baseball!"

They both then noticed Yuki walking towards them begrudgingly.

"YUKI HELP TOUMA IS TRYING TO KILL ME!"

"I AM NOT!"

Accelerator rolled his eyes, "If it gets you shut up I'm all for it. Is this really why you flooded my Inbox."

Touma nodded.

"Goddamn it"

"Cheer up Yuki, if we work together, surely we can catch this elusive ball!"

Accelerator facepalmed after hearing the Nun's version of a pep talk.

"Hey, you do know how to play catch right?" Touma's eyes were hesitant.

"WHAT!? Of course, I know how to play catch, what's not to goddamn understand!?"

"The catching part."

"Just throw the fucking the ball."

As gently as a kitten Touma tossed the baseball to Yuki and he caught it.

"***CLAP**CLAP**CLAP**CLAP*** Wow! You did it! Yuki good job!"

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TWO SO SURPRISED ABOUT!?"

"You caught it on your first try."

"I hate you so much."

Index then grabbed the baseball out of Yuki's hand and took out a marker and wrote on it.

"Here this way no one can steal it."

"Thanks, Index"

(Even if it's only 500 ¥ every little bit helps)

Touma and Index continued to throw the ball at each other as Touma continued to talk to Accelerator.

"So how did your day go Yuki?"

"Fine, I guess, though I remember hearing a certain witch yelling on the phone about a missing Poverty Prince."

Touma missed the catch on Index's throw.

"...Poverty Prince?"

"Heh. Yeah, apparently you ran off without saying a word. And because of that, she threw a hissy fit"

"...Really, you wanna go there, **hikikomori**"

{A hikikomori is someone who rarely, if ever, leaves their home or room. They have withdrawn from society and have few friends.}

Accelerator's eye twitched.

"Hey Nun, let me see that ball for a second. I wanna try."

Touma narrowed his eyes, "You really think you got what it takes snowball?"

Index passed the ball to Yuki as he got into position.

They were 10 meters away from each other.

Yuki readied his throwing arm as he took aim at Touma.

Like any good villain, Accelerator smirked as he said a famous line.

"Any Last Words?"

Touma smirked "Yeah two."

"..."

"I'm gonna enjoy this."

***DING* *THWOOSH!***

* * *

**Tokiwadai Dorms**

"Okay, Onee-sama the plan is we ambush the Great Head Resident about Mr. Daigo when she gets here."

"Is that such a good idea I mean-"

***THWOOSH!***

"What the heck was that!?"

* * *

**District 4**

As Tobio Yumi a member of Judgement continued her regularly scheduled patrol she thought over the events of today.

It was a fairly ordinary day nothing out of the usual, although she did hear from a colleague that someone that matches Kamijou's description was involved in a gang war.

Though Tobio brushed this off, after all even if he was a little rough around the edges, he was still a good person who save over 10,000 students.

Just as she was about to head back to her Judgement Office she noticed an expensive looking luxury car parked in the streets.

It was a rare occurrence to see a car like that parked on the street since something that looked that expensive was usually kept in a garage somewhere.

Though since the car was only a block away from the Judgment office she guessed that the owner was confident in their ability to keep it safe or they were just too rich to care.

Whatever the reason Yumi continued to walk towards her office.

***SHATTER!***

Her blood ran cold as she turned around and saw that the car was pegged by a baseball that completely shattered the car's windshield and dented some of its hood.

She slowly picked up the ball and was surprised when she found out someone had written on it.

Who could've been so brazen to write their own name?

The words were written in English so it took her a moment to translate but when she did an annoyed look began to grow on her face

_**TOUMA'S BALL **_

"KAMIJOU!"

* * *

**Dry Cleaners**

"HAHAHA! I can't believe you missed."

"SHUT UP THE SUN WAS IN MY EYES!"

After Yuki's incredible throw missed both Index and Touma began laughing.

The look on his face the moment he realized he missed was priceless to them.

So much so that they both wished they brought a camera.

Since they lost the only form of entertainment they had, they all decided to pick up Touma's new jacket from the dry cleaners.

"How could the sun be in your eyes when it was cloudy?" Index asked.

"Shut up!"

"Pfft. Yuki is just upset that his ability missed that's all Index."

Accelerator then narrowed his eyes at Touma, "And what's your ability supposed to be anyway?"

Touma then pointed to himself "I can tell the difference between salt and sugar without even having to taste it."

"Truly you are the missing Level 5." Accelerator said sarcastically.

Index's eyes began to sparkle "Really! That's so cool!"

He then turned to Index, "The voice of our generation in a nutshell."

Touma then paid the employee and got his brand new leather Jacket.

**True Gang Leader's Leather Jacket - Quality: Super Rare- **

**+70% in [Charisma] with the members of the opposite sex. **

**+40% in [Charisma] with everyone else.**

** If the wearer already has a high stat in Charisma with Women they are able to gain the Title [Mega-Playboy] where their charm is increased exponentially towards women. **

Index's eyes sparkled "Wow Touma you look so cool!"

Touma smiled as he patted her on the head, "Thanks Index."

She blushed, "N-No problem."

Even Accelerator had to admit that Touma looked cooler than he used to.

Inside the Dry Cleaners, all the women's eyes were glued to him as they blushed.

Touma then handed Yuki his phone, "Hey Yuki, can you take a picture of me?"

Yuki rolled his eyes as he compiled in his request.

"Thanks, I was gonna show Misaki later but a photo's good too."

Touma then fiddled with his phone as he sent her the photo.

As they all walked out of the dry cleaners Yuki turned around and saw Touma put the Leather Jacket in the bag the Dry Cleaners gave him to put it in.

"Huh? You're not gonna wear it?"

"What? Of course not, it's the middle of summer! Didn't you ever wonder why Kurozuma-senpai always took off his jacket every time he fought? It's because this thing is like a sauna he had to take it off so he wouldn't overheat! I'll wear it once it starts to get colder out."

Index sighed.

"Anyways why don't we head out to eat"

* * *

**Local Kaiten Sushi Bar**

When they all arrived, Accelerator threw his wallet at Index and uttered the magic words.

"Order what you want."

The reason for this was simple it was pride, through some sheer miracle he missed Touma's face so this was his punishment.

Touma offered to split the bill but Accelerator simply shot him a look that said if he did then he'd rip him piece by piece.

"Touma why is there a conveyor belt over there carrying food?" Index asked.

"Oh, that's because that's how they circulate food. See the conveyor belt is full of food from the menu so whenever you want to eat something you just take the plate and eat it. It's a lot more convenient than having to wait for an order.

Index mouth watered, "Where does all this food come from?"

"The Sushi Chefs in the back make them and put them on the belt. See the conveyor goes into the kitchen."

Within a second Index began grabbing plate after plate devouring everything in sight.

"I want to eat this and that...I want to eat everything here!" That was how they had ended up in this ridiculous situation.

In Between, her bites Index would talk.

"Soo Yuki do ***Munch******Munch******Munch***." (So Yuki do you have a special power like Touma?)

It wasn't very effective.

Accelerator watched the scene of gluttony before him and muttered, "Eat or speak pick one…...how is she even eating all of that?"

"***Gulp***.Okay"

Accelerator gently shook his head. He wished better luck in the next life for the people who had to deal with her day in and day out.

In addition to all the food, she also had bought large-size drinks. The bottles piled up as she downed the small amount of liquid from each one in 5 seconds each.

"Can you even taste that?"

Index nodded, "I asked if you have you have special powers like Touma?"

"I do and how the heck can you eat all of-"

"What is it?"

"Ugh, I can control Vectors"

"That's nice."

"You don't know what that means do you?"

"I never said I did. I just said it was nice."

Just then a plate of Salmon Roe was carried away by the conveyor belt.

"No wait I want that!"

Accelerator rolled his eyes as he touched the conveyor.

***Ding***

Suddenly the direction the conveyor was headed was reversed carrying the plate right back to Index.

"Huh? How did that happen?"

"That's my ability Nun. I can change Direction and Magnitude, so all I did was change the direction of the conveyor so it went in reverse."

***Ding***

"And now it's going forward."

Index tilted her head. "I think I get. Thanks for the food."

Leaving Index in the hands of whatever poor chef had to cook for her Yuki turned to Touma.

"So what happened to Kurozuma?"

"Hmm...Uiharu said that he got arrested by Anti Skill along with everyone else there. And apparently, our names weren't brought up by anyone there so I think we're in the clear. Oh and by the way Kurozuma might be getting out early due to good behavior I hear he's having an interview with someone from Uiharu's office."

"Huh, in the end, he really did go down with his ship ...that reminds me, how'd it go with yours."

"Tch! I bet you thought you were really funny huh Yuki."

Yuki rolled his eyes, "I've never seen another Level 5 before or at least a real one ...are they all that exotic looking?"

"Hmmm ...maybe I know Sogiita stands out like a sore thumb in a crowd with his uniform on. Have you've seen his Youtube Channel recently he's got like 2.3 million subscribers can you believe it?"

"Yeah, I can. The world has billions of people in it. I'm not surprised that 2.3 million of that population are complete idiots too."

"In any case, I think we should get going soon unless you want Index to drain your account dry."

The two of them then noticed all the other customers leaving as they never got any food since Index took it all.

They both then witnessed as the sushi chef came out of the kitchen. He had a defeated look on his face as he saw the monster that ate everything and drove all his other customers away.

"We should go now."

* * *

**Tokiwadai Dorms Garden**

Misaki looked at her phone and saw that she had a message from Touma and opened it.

"..."

"My Queen are you alright?"

"...Huh!? Yeah, I'm fine."

"But you turned red all of the sudden, are feeling ill?"

***Click***

Stars appeared in all of their eyes as they stopped moving.

(Best not let them remember this)

"Still though nice picture."

* * *

**Saten's Dorm**

"Bye, Touma! Bye Yuki Thanks for the food!"

As the silver-haired nun waved goodbye she entered the Saten's dorm with the key that Saten gave her.

"Okay now that that's over with what'd you say we hit the arcade and-"

Touma then felt a cold shiver run down his spine.

He turned around and saw the same Judgement officer that looked like a rabbit.

She was standing in their path blocking them.

"Heh, see ya." Yuki waved him off as he headed for the direction towards the hospital.

"Are you serious!? Is that like your thing!"

Accelerator smiled as he walked away sealing Kamijou's fate

Now alone Tobio Yumi approached him.

"H-Hey what's up Doc. Heh heh heh"

Touma chuckled nervously as he slowly backed up.

"Hey there Kamijou I was wondering if you were playing baseball today."

"Hmm well yeah, why?"

"Well have you've been to District 4 at all recently?"

"!? What of course not. The last time I went there was for a class a couple of months ago."

"Oh really. Well, the weirdest thing happened today Kamijou."

She stepped closer.

"I was doing my patrol around District 4 and I looked up at the sky to check the weather and I was like 'the weather report lied to me' It said it was supposed to be sunny, but it wasn't it was cloudy with a chance of Baseball."

She then presented him the baseball in question.

"And this Baseball landed and destroyed the windshield of a car."

Touma began to sweat.

"I-I told you I never went to District 4 its gotta be someone else."

The look on her face said she was not convinced in the slightest "Hmmm are you sure it wasn't you?"

"..."

"Because it has _**Touma's Ball **_written on it."

"***Gulp*** Come on! Academy City is a big place, there are over 2.3 million people here, so there's bound to be more than one Touma enrolled here, right? I'm being framed!"

"Framed? Well, frame that excuse cause I'm not buying it!"

She stepped even closer, "You just admitted that you were playing baseball today and I have a ball that has your name written on it. Don't you think those two things are related, Kamijou?"

"I-I'm telling you I was framed."

Yumi then snapped her fingers sarcastically, "Well damn the trail's gone cold. How am I gonna solve this case now? Of whose ball this is."

It was at that moment that the universe decided Kamijou Touma needed to be punished some more.

"Touma!"

He turned around and saw Index run up to him with another baseball.

Touma's blood ran cold as she put the baseball in his hand.

"Hey, I remembered that you lost your ball today so I asked Ruiko if I could have this one to give to you."

Index then looked over at the girl's hands and saw the baseball that they lost.

"***Gasp*** You found it! See Touma writing your name on it did work. This nice lady brought it back to you." She then took the new baseball out of his hand. "I guess you won't be needing this, Bye Touma have a good night!"

She waved him off as she ran back to Saten's dorm.

"She's nice" Yumi commented.

"Yeah, she is, thanks for waiting until she left."

"No problem. ***CLINK* **You're under arrest if that wasn't clear enough."

"***Sigh*** I know…...Such Misfortune."

* * *

**Tokiwadai Gym Athletic Grounds**

***Crackle**Crackle***

"Now just try to send the energy through your body from your guts to your fingertips"

While using Rampage Dress Junko helped Mikoto position her body.

"L-Like this?"

"Yeah, you're a natural Misaka-san."

"R-Really?"

After seeing how Junko used her esper ability **Rampage Dress **yesterday, Misaka got curious about how to use it. This was due to the fact that they were both fell under the same spectrum of Electromaster, with Mikoto being a Level 5 and Junko being a Level 4.

Theoretically speaking any ability that a lower level uses can be copied by someone with a higher level who also fell under the same category.

At first, Misaka only asked her how she was able to do it. However, Junko insisted on teaching Mikoto herself so she brought here.

"Okay, I'm letting go now."

Mikoto could feel the energy flow through her body.

It was like her limbs were constricting themselves, though there was no pain. In fact, she felt as though her body was nimbler now.

"So how was it?"

"Uhh it was weird, from what I can tell it takes really fine control to handle, but I was wondering, can I just strengthen certain parts of my body like my legs?"

Junko nodded. "Yes, you can. And I'll teach you." She then leaned in close to Misaka with a smile, "In exchange, make sure to visit me when I leave for the other dorms."

"S-Sure."

(I have a feeling that Shokuhou would hate that)

As they continued practicing a strange dark aura loomed in the distance.

"Onee-sama, how could you."

Kuroko teleported closer to see Junko massaging her Onee-sama's calves.

Horror and rage-filled Kuroko's soul as she saw Junko's hand move up.

"Hmm. Your fast twitching muscles look strong, so I think we should try to strengthen your leg triceps first."

"Really? Okay."

"Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh!"

(THAT'S UNFORGIVABLE! RUBBING ONEE-SAMA'S LOVELY LEGS IN PRIVATE IS TOO MUCH! I SHOULD JOIN IN …NO WAIT NO! I MUST ELIMINATE THIS LEWD ANIMAL BEFORE SHE REACHES **ONEE-SAMA'S SECRET GARDEN!)**

Kuroko then Teleported Above Junko and was about to deal her own version of justice.

(NO ONE TOUCHES ONEE-SAMA BUT ME!)

Suddenly Kuroko felt as someone grabbed her from mid-air.

"Shirai-san?"

"K-Kuroko?"

Within a fraction of a second Junko tossed Kuroko to Mikoto who caught her in her arms while she was still using her rudimentary version of Junko's Rampage Dress.

"Eh?"

Kuroko blushed as she could feel a slight tingle cover her entire body.

"Hawawawa!"

Mikoto looked at Kuroko, "What are you doing?"

Kuroko's entire body felt raptured as the tingling continued.

"ONE-SAMA❣❣❣"

"Kuroko what are you doing!?"

"HOKAZE-SAN!"

"Y-Yes?"

"I MISJUDGED YOU! YOU ARE TRULY AN ANGEL SENT FROM HEAVEN. IF YOU EVER NEED ANYTHING JUST ASK. I'LL REPAY YOU WITH MY LIFE!"

"KUROKO LET GO OF ME!"

***BIRI BIRI***

"SO STIMULATING!"

As Junko watched Mikoto wrestle Kuroko off her she thought.

(They're such good friends)

* * *

**Anti Skill Holding Cell**

"Well, this is my life now."

Yumi rolled her eyes, "Don't be so dramatic, you're just in a holding cell, you aren't actually going to jail."

"Really?"

"Hmm…..maybe…...probably…...most likely."

"WHAT'S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN!?"

"I mean you have a clean record for the most part, well except your grades there…..how do you get a 50% in a SYSTEM scan?"

"Hey stop reading that!"

"Nah"

"Nah?"

Yumi then stepped out and came back in a few minutes later with an envelope.

"You're free to go."

"Really!?"

"Yeah apparently the owner of the car doesn't wanna press charges so your record will become clean again after you pay for having their Windshield fixed"

"Oh thank god. So what do I owe like **100,000 Yen**?"

Yumi laughed as she opened the door and handed him the envelope, "You wish."

Touma began to shutter as he opened the letter.

**Bill ¥ 1,000,000 Yen**

Touma could feel his soul slowly fading away.

"SUCH MISFORTUNE!"

* * *

**Touma's Dorm**

After the day he had Touma was glad that it finally came to an end.

There was no way his day was gonna turn out worse if he just got home right?

When he entered his Dorm he was happy to find that the check for his allowance had finally come in.

From what people had been telling him he would start getting a bigger allowance.

Normally Touma would've started to have a panic attack if he had gotten a bill like that in the past but he was confident in his ability to save money.

If he just kept a good budget, he would be debt free in no time.

When he opened the letter he found out how much his allowance was now.

**Allowance Total: ¥ 0 Yen**

"..."

(╯°□°）╯︵ ~ɐpnoʞnɟ

"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS!"

Apparently in Academy City, if you were a student and owed an outstanding debt for a public service it would automatically deduct it from your Allowance.

"SUCH MISFORTUNE!"

"KAMI-YAN SHUT THE HELL UP SOME OF US ARE TRYING TO SLEEP!"

"SORRY!...such misfortune."

It was gonna be a long summer for Kamijou.

* * *

**August 2**

**Asunaro Park**

"Operation Matchmaker is now underway." Kuroko declared as she marched inside alongside the rest of the girls.

"Copy."

Mikoto then looked around the facility and couldn't find Touma.

"Where'd that idiot run off to?"

* * *

**District 4**

**A Certain Terrace Cafe**

'_Yep, it's come to this. I was offered a part-time summer job here a couple of months ago when I came here with my class but I turned it down because I wanted to enjoy my summer. But I think I rather enjoy not being in debt anymore so I decided to take them up on their offer. The only thing is because I took so long I'm not helping out in the kitchen I've been reduced to a Busboy/Waiter.'_

"***Sigh***"

'_It's not all bad though. The tips are good and they said if I stick it out for a week I'll be able to work in the kitchen…...yay.'_

Touma had done the math in his stupor yesterday and calculated that he'd be able to pay his debt off in a month.

Touma mumbled, "…goodbye summer."

"Hey, waiter!"

Touma turned around and saw a pair of customers who had just recently come in.

One of the customers was a boy who Touma would consider handsome. He had shoulder-length dirty blond hair He wore a dark maroon colored suit with a white collared shirt, both unbuttoned, revealing a red v-neck under them.

He was with was a beautiful girl in a showy dress that one would expect a woman from a hostess club would wear. She had light blonde colored wavy hair and wore elegant jewelry. She looked to be about 14 years old.

Touma sighed as they reminded him of what his summer was supposed to be.

Touma noted that while they came in together and looked to be a couple they seemed to have a professional relationship of some sort. Though this didn't make how they treated Touma any better. He was practically ignored by the boy as he took his order and the girl was just kind of an airhead who asked him ridiculous questions like 'Is cereal soup?'

Honest to god, those two had a full-blown conversation about that. The only reason it ended was that the boy told him to get lost.

Among all of his customers today she took the cake. Even the little blonde girl who wore a beret was more professional than her and she was like 8!

However, due to some earthquake that happened in District 7, the chef in charge of desserts was late.

Suffice to say they didn't take kindly to this.

In the end, the manager let him work in the kitchen since he knew that he could cook desserts.

"Sorry for the wait. Here you go a **Dorayaki** for the gentlemen and a **Lemon curd Italiano Semifreddo **for you Miss."

The boy rolled his eyes and just continued to eat.

The girl was nicer as she gave him a thumbs up.

Once they were both finished eating they left like everybody else the boy never even paid him any mind, it was like he was so unimportant to him was invisible or something. The girl simply said, 'Good job spiky black haired boy' and left.

Seriously he had a name tag and everything and yet she just called him as she saw him.

All in all, they did leave a good tip so Touma really couldn't complain.

However bad those two might have been was nothing compared to the pair of customers he had next.

The man wasn't so much as bad as he was just observing the whole thing as it unfolded.

He was a man with a slim build, fairly sharp features and had dark brown hair. He wore clothes that you would expect someone at a fancy party to wear a suit and tie something that Touma would have thought crazy since it was summer out but, remembered that they were inside with air conditioning.

Imagine the most entitled person you ever known and multiply that by two and make them into the form of a little girl and you still wouldn't understand the levels of hardship Touma went through.

The little girl had her hair is tied in two curly pigtails by two blue ribbons. She wore fancy frilly clothes that merit her rich girl status that was dark pink and with bright gold trimmings.

It was so bad Touma even considered quitting when she purposely pushed her ice tea onto the ground because the lemon wasn't bright enough.

Then she made him run back and forth to the kitchen because the mushrooms in her orders were cut into strips instead of cubed like she wanted but forgot to mention when she gave her long-winded order.

The chefs in the kitchen practically threw food at him for the number of times he had to come back for the same order.

Eventually, Touma decided to make it himself since he knew everybody in the kitchen hated this kid by now.

"H-Have a good day" Touma waved the two of them off as they headed for the exit of the restaurant.

He could practically hear the sighs of relief come from the restaurant as the two of them got up.

Touma then looked over on the table the two of them had been sitting in and notice something that blew his mind.

They had left a stack of Yen on the table that totaled to be.

**¥ 1,000,000 Yen!**

Touma knew that they were rich given the fact that whenever they changed there order they just ordered something new instead but this was just crazy!

Was this his tip for keeping his cool?

No…...it wasn't.

"Hey excuse me!"

The little girl turned around and her eyes told him that she was annoyed.

"What?"

"Umm...I think you forgot this?" Touma then handed her the stack of money.

She looked even more annoyed as she rolled her eyes, "Thanks."

Without another word, she continued towards the exit.

Even though Touma didn't the money or a tip, at least he got a thank you.

That's a win, right?

"***Sigh***"

The pair continued to walk until they got to their car. The little girl sat in the back as her attendant took his seat and turned on the car.

"Did you really have to put him through all that miss? Didn't your father tell you just to give him the money and let bygones be bygones?"

The little girl rolled her eyes, "He inconvenienced me so I inconvenienced him."

"But Miss it was only for 5 minutes and wasn't it you who insisted on-street parking because it was faster than going to a garage?"

"T-That doesn't matter! Besides what does it matter anyway he's getting his debt paid off one way or the other, why shouldn't I have a little fun?"

The attended sighed as he pulled out his phone and transferred the money necessary to pay off the boy's debt.

"Still he is strange isn't he Miss? He didn't even hesitate to return that money to you."

"...Just drive."

"Of course Miss."

* * *

Now that his shift was over Touma began to walk back to District 7. He wouldn't dare use a bus since that would only increase his debt even more than it already was.

"So you got a summer job huh?"

Touma looked up and saw that same Judgement agent that put him here in the first place.

"Yeah, that debts not gonna pay itself."

"What're you talking about, that debt was already paid off earlier today."

Touma began to step closer towards her.

"Say what?"

"Uhh ...T-The debt was already paid off. Apparently, the owner realized it was a student and decided to pay off the debt fully. He said something about kids being kids."

"..."

"Are you-"

Touma practically squeezed her to death as he hugged her.

"THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! I DIDN'T KNOW THIS WORLD WAS FILLED WITH SUCH KIND PEOPLE. YOU WOULDN'T IMAGINE THE KIND OF DAY I JUST HAD! THANK YOU!"

Yumi blushed as she struggled to get free, "P-Please let me go."

Touma complied and he ran off into the distance.

All the while cheering.

"What a weird guy."

* * *

**August 3**

**Saten's Dorm**

Touma celebrated after yesterday's amazing news by actually being able to afford his groceries. Though he was still on a budget due to the fact that he had no idea when he would be able to get his allowance again, he was still grateful for the things he had.

He even stopped by the hospital to see Yuki and proceeded to bug him for an apology until he wanted to jump out the window.

He eventually won and got, "Sorry for missing your head"

Still a victory in his book.

Though he did eventually have to explain to Misaki about the fact that he had gotten himself arrested since she immediately knew something was wrong when he got a job. She lectured him about taking responsibility for something he didn't do since Yuki was the one that threw the ball.

But that was all in the past and he was looking forward to the future.

He knocked on the door to the dorm and waited for Index to come out.

Apparently, the girls were sure that Mr. Daigo was going to propose so he wanted to come to watch.

The door slammed open and Index rushed out.

"Touma come on let's go!"

* * *

**Asunaro Park**

The group hid behind a bush as they listened in to the conversation between the Dorm manager and Mr. Daigo.

The Dorm manager had undergone a makeover from the girls.

"I can't put my finger on it but there's something different about you today."

The dorm manager fumbled for a second before regaining her composure, "Um about what we discussed yesterday."

Mr. Daigo nodded, "Yes, I really appreciated that I finally have all the courage I need and it's all thanks to you."

He then took out a small jewelry box which made her heart skip a beat. "W-What this?"

Mr. Daigo smiled, "I'm going to propose to my **Girlfriend**" He then looked over at Shigenomori Kazuko his Girlfriend.

"Y-Your girlfriend?"

"Yes, I was nervous but then you said that age didn't matter as long as you respect the person and you were right, Thank you."

The heartbroken woman smiled masking her disappointment, "It's no problem, I'm glad I could be of help. I wish you happiness, Mr. Daigo."

* * *

"Awww, I was sure it would work out. " Groaned Uiharu.

"What a shame who would've thought he had a Girlfriend" added Saten.

"I did"

Immediately all the girls turned to the poor foolish boy.

"What's wrong? Why are you guys surrounding me!? And what's with this dark aura I'm feeling?"

Kuroko was the first to speak as she narrowed her eyes at him, "So you knew the whole time."

"What? Yeah, that's why I said 'it's not gonna be that simple.' He had a girlfriend wasn't it obvious?"

Mikoto shoved Kuroko aside and glared at him, "Was it funny getting her hopes up like that? Letting her believe that she actually had a chance."

"What? No! In fact, I was kinda rooting for her too."

"What!?"

"I'm not blind! It's obvious she likes him and love isn't a thing that can go away just because the other person is in a relationship. But think of it like this now she has some sort of closure and can move on. If she never tried then she always would've wondered 'what if'. That's something I don't want on anyone."

Touma then pointed to the Dorm manager who was now playing with the children.

Mikoto stood in place thinking over the words he just said.

"Look I'm sorry I didn't say it earlier really. I honestly didn't know you guys weren't aware of that, I'm sorry."

"..."

Index then puffed out her chest proudly, "Apology accepted, but your gonna have to treat us all to lunch Touma."

Touma sighed, "Fine but we can't go back to the sushi bar."

Index tilted her head "Why?"

* * *

**Omake**

**Is Cereal a Soup**

"Hey Spiky black haired boy, is cereal a cold soup?"

"Hmm? You know now that you mention it maybe. I mean porridge is usually served cold so maybe. Why don't you look it up on your phone."

"I didn't bring it with me. What about you?"

"We're not allowed to have our phones on us here."

They both then eyed the tablet that the boy was holding.

"..."

He didn't budge so the two of the continued to talk.

"Tsk! Get lost already your annoying me."

Touma complied and said goodbye to the girl. When he turned around he saw that the boy was adding something to his coffee.

"Um, sir that's actually salt!"

The boy rolled his eyes there was no way the waiter could tell that it was salt all the way from there.

So he proceeded to pour it in and took a sip.

"..."

"Um….sir is everything alright?"

"Just get me another coffee."

* * *

**Homerun**

The moment Yuki missed the air was filled with silence.

"HAHAHA!

"HAHAHA!"

As the two of them laughed at him Yuki was about to smack them when some random school gym teacher approached him.

"Excuse me boy were you the one who threw that ball?"

Accelerator rolled his eyes, "Don't remind me."

"I think you have what it takes to be a real pro."

Touma then chimed in, "I wouldn't be so sure, he was aiming at me."

"Oh, nevermind then…...though how'd you miss him when you were that close?"

"THE SUN WAS IN MY EYES!"

They all looked up and saw it was cloudy.

"..."

"HAHAHA!"

"HAHAHA!"

"GOD DAMN IT!"

* * *

**Author's Notes**

**The Leather jacket isn't magic, it's just a joke that I got from watching the Big Spider episode**

**I mean when he mentioned both Kuroko's and Mikoto's chest size and neither of them were offended I was like he must have maxed out his charisma stat or something!**


	23. Chapter 23 A Midsummer's Night Pursuit

**Hey, thanks for reading a Certain Scientific Counter. And thank you to everyone who commented it really helps me improve as a writer and get new ideas for the story. Without further ado Q&A**

**D.N. Works - Maybe really depends on how Touma behaves. She's one of the few officers who would go out of there way to arrest the guy.**

**awardedall- Thank you for the compliment.**

**Deus Aut Beastia- Glomar Response.**

**tsun- Thank you so much. Such Misfortune.**

**Fortitude501- He did meet with them. And the rich girl owned the car he broke. She likes what she sees.**

**Sirius962- Yes I do like irony and thank you for noticing. And don't worry I managed to understand what you were saying. Thank you for the comment.**

**BlueJack22- Thank you and the Deep Blood Arc is coming soon. And she's just a Judgement agent that does her job...**

**Anti-Mage 29- Thank you, and I did notice that but since she's currently the only one with that family name I switch it up so it's faster to write.**

**Dragonrails- I'm glad you like those scenes they bounce off each other so well. And a nice idea. Thank you for your comment.**

**Rajarshi Sarkar- Nice list of what has and what needs to be required. But Gungir's not impossible to get, you have a '50%' chance of acquiring it. Story Tobio arrests Touma for vandalism and Measure heart... And I usually only use Omakes as a plot device when I'm planning something bigger. I like yours though, have you seen the latest season of Attack on Titan. ANd Touma never misses out on a shipping opportunity, but he didn't see this as that it was more of a house wrecker operation since he knew the guy already had a girlfriend.**

**Aminadab Brulle- Thank you and Misaki has changed Touma in subtle ways that don't affect his already solidified personality. Golden Lighter...**

**Nameless- The jacket? But why it looks so good. And yeah he calls every Level 5 a nickname and still lives to tell about it. Nice idea. Thank you for the comment.**

**Chris- Oh the long reviews how I missed you. Anyways I like your take by take, of the chapter really helps me see what readers are experiencing. And yeah he met them in the restaurant and yeah she's a bit of a dork. But if you read up on her you'll see that she's actually pretty interesting of a character. And don't worry I already have everything planned for that. And we'll be getting more of that shortly.**

**Sergio644-Soon...Very Soon.**

* * *

**A Midsummer's Night Pursuit**

**Part 1**

**August 4**

**Present**

**Tokiwadai Dorms Midsummer Festival**

***BAM!**BAM!**BAM!***

***BAM!**BAM!**BAM!***

***BAM!**BAM!**BAM!***

"OPEN THE DOOR!"

"WE KNOW YOU'RE IN THERE!"

"JUST GIVE UP NOW AND ADMIT TO YOUR WICKED DEEDS!"

"MOVE ASIDE I KONGO MITSUKO SHALL BRING THIS HEATHEN TO HEEL!"

'_My life isn't something to strive for nor is it something to envy. It's more of a cautionary tale than anything.'_

'_That's how I Kamijou Touma found myself here barricaded in a storage closet during the Tokiwadai MidSummer Festival and why everyone on the other side of that door wants my head on a pike'_

'_How did I end up here you may ask. Well let me tell you it all started when I decided to open that damn door'_

* * *

**August 3**

**Past**

**Touma's Dorm**

"And then I said loud and clear, 'Do you really think you can live on microwavable food alone!?' "

The girl speaking proudly in front of Index was Tsuchimikado Maika.

She attended Ryouran Maid School and, simply put, was a maid-in-training. She wore the maid uniform even on her days off and she was sitting on top of a drum-shaped cleaning robot for some reason.

Index spoke while looking back and forth between the drum and the maid.

"Y-you are the great summoner that I saw before. You can use powers beyond those of man."

"Hm? Don't you see these cleaning robots all over the city?"

Maika cutely tilted her head, but she received no response.

"You can just ignore her. Can I ask why you decided to stop by Maika?" Touma asked.

"Grrr….Touma don't brush me off! Do you see him Maika! He even said he wasn't taking me to go see the MidSummer Festival tomorrow because he didn't want to go!"

Maika continued to stare at the two, "Well I just wanted to say welcome back. You've been gone for so long I thought you moved out. And then I hear that you started hanging out with Miss Misaka."

"Oh Okay, wait, how'd you know that?"

"Oh, my Onii-chan told me. You know he's been worried ever since you stopped talking to him."

"Huh? Seriously, he never visited me once when I was in the hospital and it's not like I'm avoiding him or anything I've just been busy, like just yesterday I had a job."

"Really, how'd it go?"

"Oh I quit, I rather enjoy my youthful years than work, thank you very much."

Index then started rummaging through the boxes that were still unopen ever since Touma got his apartment refurbished.

"Touma, what's this?"

Index had pulled out a Gekota Makeup Pouch.

"Oh yeah! I remember this…..it didn't work at all!" Touma then proceeded to throw the pouch at his bed.

"Hmmm….why do you have that Kamijou? I thought you outgrew that phase already?"

"I did! It's just…...never mind it's getting late and I gotta get Index back to Saten's dorm before curfew."

Index then puffed out her chest, "Touma I'm more than capable of walking back by myself thank you very much. I'll have you know I memorized the way home already."

"Yeah, I'm sure you can but I'd rather someone go along with you then you just wander aimlessly through the street."

Maika then raised her hand, "I can take her if you want."

"A-Are you sure? I mean Index can be-"

Maika waved him off, "It's nothing really, come on let's go."

After parting ways with Index and Tsuchimikado Maika (and the drum she was riding around), Touma was left alone once again.

(Don't worry. I'm sure they'll be fine, right?)

Touma then shot Saten a text telling her that Index would be coming to her dorm soon.

***Knock**Knock***

"I knew she'd forget something," Touma opened the door to his apartment and wasn't greeted with the silver-haired nun he had been expecting.

"How's it been Kami-yan" the fake Kansai accent came as a surprise to Touma as he wasn't expecting Aogami.

"W-What're you doing here!?"

"...Hey, Kami-yan, who was that girl? How do you know such a small girl? Is she your cousin? It doesn't look like it. Her silver hair doesn't look like it's inherited from your genes"

"Stop creeping on me Aogami! And it doesn't matter who she is!"

"Relax man~ But two girls coming out of your apartment is kinda fishy like in a bad romantic comedy kinda way."

Aogami then leaned in closer, "But seriously Kami-yan be careful you don't get that **Bad Ending.** I don't wanna read the local headlines and find you missing."

"***Gulp*** That'll never happen! And you still haven't answered my first question!"

"I can answer that."

"T-Tsuchimikado?"

Tsuchimikado was his neighbor and friend. He was wearing an aloha shirt and shorts. Light blue sunglasses covered his eyes. Dangling on his neck was a gold chain that matched the outfit of delinquents.

"Hey, wait a minute! If you were here the whole time why didn't you go with Maika?"

"If possible, I'd like you to not call my sister so casually, but... there's not much time left, Kami-yan. I have one thing to ask: do you know what day it is today?"

Touma couldn't comprehend the point of Tsuchimikado's question.

"Huh? Yeah, it's August 3, why?"

Both Aogami and Tsuchimikado then stepped closer, "Then you know what tomorrow is, yes?"

Touma looked confused, "Yeah it's August-" Suddenly it clicked in his mind why they were both here, "The Tokiwadai MidSummer Festival."

Tsuchimikado nodded, "Yep and we're gonna need your help if we want the plan to go off without a hitch."

"No way! I gotta out of that life!"

"Come on Kami-yan one last score, for old times sake!"

"Hell no!"

"Come on Kami-yan why do you always have to experience the joys of youth while neither of us even had a chance."

Tsuchimikado then raised his hand to stop Aogami, "I thought this might happen, so I brought along this."

He proceeded to pull out what looked to be a map and handed it to Touma.

"N-No way! I thought this was destroyed!"

Simultaneously they each pulled out the object that they'd been safeguarding for all this time.

Tsuchimikado pulled out a Book that was in code.

Aogami pulled out a stack of papers that held the key to decipher it.

"H-How is this even possible? Misaki told me that the map was burned last summer. Did Misaki lie to me?"

Tsuchimikado waved him down, "No nothing like that, you did actually burn a map, but the map you burned was the backup."

"Backup?"

Aogami nodded, "Earlier that summer you got worried that you might break the map since it was just a piece of parchment paper so you made a copy and gave it to me."

"!? So all this time you guys had everything you needed to go on another mission. Wait, if that's the case why do you need me? You could do it all on your own." Touma demanded.

"It wouldn't be the same without you, we were planning on going on one last hoorah with you when you came out of the hospital the last time, but Shokuhou-san wouldn't let you out of her sight so we waited."

The dorm neighbor then let out a sinister smile.

"Until today, we already have everything we need for the plan to go smoothly all we need now is for you to come with us Kami-yan."

"B-But-"

Like any good Con-man, Tsuchimikado used everything he knew about Touma in his argument.

Seeing Touma look so surprised, Tsuchimikado let out a self-mocking smile and said, "Look you can either come with us or not, the choice is yours but if you don't you'll always be left wondering '**what if**'. What if I went where no other boy has gone before and entered paradise."

"..."

Tsuchimikado forced a smile and said, "Oi, Kami-yan, don't be so silent! Or you'll regret it for the rest of your life…..or is it really true that you let that self-proclaimed 'Queen' run your life nya"

There it was.

He hadn't heard him say that in such a long time that he'd actually forgot what it sounded like.

"What did you just say?"

Tsuchimikado continued, "Oh yes, Kami-yan. We all know how you follow whatever she says like her personal Yes-Man."

Touma stared at him, "I'm not her Yes-Man!"

Tsuchimikado continued to wave his hand and said, "Okay, then when is the last time you did anything by yourself?"

"Tch! I'll have you know that I snuck out of the hospital just a couple of days ago!"

Tsuchimikado casually chuckled and said, "Oh, I heard all about that, so let me ask you this, did you ask for her permission before you left?"

"..."

"Look, Kami-yan this is your chance! Rise up, do something for yourself for a change. Are you really gonna let someone else run your life for you?"

"..."

(No of course not! Although…..)

Touma thought back as far as he could remember ever since he woke up in the hospital and realized that he was right.

The only time he actually did his own thing was when he saved Index and even then, he had to ask for permission…

"***Sigh*** You really are a piece of work you know that."

Tsuchimikado then let out a sinister smile as he pulled out his book.

"Then it's settled. Let's get started."

* * *

**Part 2**

**Tokiwadai Dorms**

**August 4 **

**Early Morning**

If you were looking for well-mannered young ladies, this was the place.

The Prestigious Tokiwadai Middle School was one of the world's greatest hotspots for polite language.

And today was a special day indeed, today was the MidSummer Festival. The once-closed doors of this great Academy were now opened to the public (The preselected few that is).

This day was made to showcase everything the Academy had to offer and that included the espers that attended it as well.

It was due to this very reason that everyone was excited that the Railgun herself would be performing today.

That is everyone except herself.

"***Sigh***"

"Rise and shine Onee-sama, it's morning, that day has finally arrived!"

Who was this abnormally peppy small girl with long chestnut hair worn in twin-tails you might ask? It was no other than Shirai Kuroko, Mikoto's roommate and one of the people who were most excited to see her perform.

Mikoto didn't even get out of the covers of her bed to respond.

"At last, huh?"

Kuroko's voice swooned, "Today's your big day Onee-sama! And while to you big moments may be a daily occurrence, today is particularly special. I including the rest of the school have been eagerly awaiting this day!"

"My big moment, huh?" She didn't seem very excited. "There must be any number of other students who could do it just as well."

Kuroko leaned in, "My, how modest! But when one thinks of the pride of Tokiwadai's most skilled students, whose name do you think immediately comes to mind? Not that pretend Queen but, you the Ace of Tokiwadai! My Onee-sama!"

"***Sigh*** You're a real piece of work you know that? Well, I guess since it's all set up anyways there's no backing out, is there?"

Kuroko raised her arms to cheer and to remove the covers that enveloped around Mikoto, "That's my Onee-sama! Come on let's get ready! Now to get you changed!"

Kuroko quickly found herself launched across the room in her attempts to undress this fair maiden. The result of this was a photo of her and her friends being knocked over.

"I CAN DO IT MYSELF! You don't have to tell me."

* * *

**Part 3**

**Tokiwadai Middle School Dormitory Midsummer Festival**

Honor, Status, Ojou-sama's, Prestige theses are the things that make up this great Academy known as Tokiwadai. Everything was in harmony then everything changed when the Delta Force Attacked.

"…Ksshh…Can you…hear this? …Is this…ksshh…Kami-yan…do you…ksshh…speak? My…ksshh…from outside…ksshh…"

A normal high school student named Kamijou Touma leaned against the wall and looked down at his cell phone. He was currently waiting for his partners in crime to infiltrate the building.

Why was he doing this you may ask the answer was simple.

Because only someone who had seen both sides could stop them. And it was for that reason why he became a double agent.

The Young man named Kamijou Touma took it upon himself to protect these innocent maidens from the Delta Force's invasion, from what he heard yesterday they were going to do this regardless if he was a participant or not so he took it upon himself to stop them.

Now you may ask why he didn't just tell the people in charge about the coming incursion and that too was simple. The reason was, honor.

Even though he had long ago abandoned his position in the Delta Force there were still some principles that he abided by and one of those principles was not to snitch. If you were to break this key tenet then you would be branded scum and the punishment for scum wasn't pleasant at all.

So now he was waiting to sabotage his friend's attempts to gain entry into the building.

That is until he felt someone tap on his shoulder.

"Touma, what are you doing here?"

Touma spun around and saw her.

She had white skin, a short build, long silver hair that reached her waist, and green eyes. She also wore a showy white nun's habit with gold embroidery that was reminiscent of a nouveau riche teacup. She would have stood out anywhere. And yet Touma still didn't see her casually walk up from behind him.

"Kyhaaa! Index how'd you get here!?"

"Hmmm? Mikoto invited me and along with Ruiko and Flower hair, I thought you said you didn't wanna come?" The look of confusion on her face was quickly changed into one that now more resembled annoyance, "Wait a minute, did you just tell me you didn't wanna go so you didn't have to take me so you could go by yourself!?"

"EHH!? NO INDEX I SWEAR! PLEASE PUT AWAY THOSE TEETH!"

The distraction was set and the other members of the Delta Force managed to successfully complete their infiltration.

* * *

**Tokiwadai Main Hall Entrance**

As Mikoto wore her maid outfit and handed out pamphlets for the Festivals events one particular thought crossed her mind.

"I don't see why we couldn't extend our hospitality in some other outfit?"

***Flash* *Flash***

A small tic mark appeared on Mikoto's head. This wasn't the first time she told students that photography wasn't allowed here.

"I said no flash photography."

"Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, Very Nice!"

Instead of a male's or on the rarer occasion females voice she expected to hear she heard none other than Kuroko's.

"That includes you too! What're you even doing taking pictures?"

Kuroko then tugged on her armband showing that she was a member of the school's Archivist committee " Please don't get the wrong idea. For, I am simply doing my job. Though I'm not sure how I feel about you wearing shorts under that dress."

***Biri***

The camera that Kuroko so cautiously protected was now a simple paperweight as the esper fried the circuit boards along with all of the memory stored inside.

"I don't see why your job includes looking under my skirt."

Kuroko quickly found her cheeks being pulled furiously demanding an explanation.

Luckily enough for her, the teleporter's partner showed up just in the nick of time.

"Shirai-san thank you so much for the invitation! I can't believe I actually got into the Tokiwadai Midsummer Festival!"

Uiharu was wearing a casual dress along with her signature flower headband.

She was accompanied by Saten who also dressed casually for the event alongside Index and…

"Why do you look like you just got mauled by a bear?"

"..."

Index huffed.

"W-Well you see Kamijou said he wasn't going to the Festival but changed his mind at the last minute so apparently Index thought he was trying to ditch her."

"Hmph! He tried and failed! Honestly, Touma, you have no tact!"

He could taste the self-righteousness even from here.

"Ugh! If you're here does that mean she is too?"

"Hmmm? Are you talking about Misaki? If you are then no. She didn't wanna come since there'd be a crowd."

Kuroko then narrowed her eyes at the poor boy.

"Why do you seem so nervous?"

"...N-No reason...I mean I'm not nervous. You're nervous…."

"Ummm are you sure you're okay?"

Ever read that story about how the criminal could swear the cops could hear his heartbeat? Well, that's how Touma felt at that moment.

(S-Should I tell them?)

* * *

**Scenario 1**

"Yeah, I'm completely fine nothing to worry about. Absolutely nothing fishy going on with this Kamijou."

Touma proceeds to run away.

"Liar, Get him!"

"No please I swear I don't know anything!"

Kuroko then proceeded to handcuff Touma, "Defiant till the end I see. When I'm done with you, you'll be singing like a canary!"

"SUCH MISFORTUNE!"

**Enhanced Integration Ending**

* * *

**Scenario 2**

"O-Okay I might have let some people in who should've never been let in here in the first place. B-But I swear it was an accident."

"Liar!"

"He probably let them in on purpose!"

"I always knew this ape was a pervert! Wait until Shokuhou-san learns of this!"

"No, please I swear I didn't mean-"

"I never wanna see you again! GET OUT!"

***BIRI BIRI***

"SUCH MISFORTUNE!"

**Branded a Pervert by Association Ending**

* * *

**Scenario 3**

"..."

"Okay then."

**Hours pass by**

"Someone just got caught peeping in on the girl's changing room!"

"How'd someone like that even get in!?"

"The deviant said he had an accomplice. He wouldn't name anyone in specific but we overheard him mumbling something about a Kami-yan"

All the girls then proceeded to turn to Touma.

"I-I can explain!"

"GET OUT YOU PERV! WE NEVER WANNA SEE YOU AGAIN!"

***BIRI BIRI***

"SUCH MISFORTUNE!"

**Trash Human Being Ending**

* * *

Mikoto then turned to Touma, "Uhh, are you okay?"

"OH, WOW LOOK AT THE TIME!"

(Why does that sound so familiar?)

Before Touma could make a mad dash he was stopped by none other than the maid in training herself Maika Tscuhimikado. Though this was one of the rare occasions where she wasn't riding her mechanical stead. (Cleaning Robot)

"Hey, Onii-chan how's it going?"

"M-Maika…..Erm...by any chance have you seen your brother around?"

She cutely tilted her head as she responded and said, "Not since early this morning, he said something about hanging out with his friends, though if your looking for him he wouldn't be here since he never got an invitation."

Saten then turned to Touma, "You know her?"

Before he could respond Makia answered for him, "Yep, he's my brother's friend. He's really nice once you get to know him, he even helped take care of me when I caught the flu a few weeks ago."

"That's so nice of you Kamijou-san," Uiharuu commented.

"W-Well I couldn't just leave her in Motoharu's care. He has no clue in taking care of someone when their sick."

Maika then turned to Shirai, "Miss Shirai, when were you planning on helping us with the buffet?"

"Uh, I completely forgot? My apologies!"

Mikoto then motioned to Maika, "Allow me to properly introduce, Tschuimikado Makia, from the Ryouran Maid School. Her school is currently overseeing the cooking for our dorms festival."

"Wow Ryouran, you mean the one that trains maid specialists?"

Makia smiled at the praise as she curtseyed towards Uiharu, "Tschuimikado Maika, a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

Saten then turned to where Touma was, "Hey you never told us that you knew a…..where'd he go?"

The group then looked around for any sign of him but came up with nothing.

Maika tilted her head, "That's odd, he usually says goodbye when he wants to leave. I guess he had something important to do." She then shrugged, "In any case if you have any trouble feel free to ask for anything." She then grabbed Shirai by the collar and proceeded to drag her away, "Now, come with me."

"No please I cannot just abandon Onee-sama...I mean Uiharu and company, they'd be lost without me?"

"Don't worry I'll show them around."

"Onee-sama, please! Don't let her take me away!"

No matter how much she shouted, the #3 did not turn around. She did, however, stick out her tongue.

"So where'd you wanna go first?"

Mikoto was answered by Uiharu shoving the entire pamphlet at her saying something along the lines of ' I am no longer the regular Uiharu Kazari, I hereby declare that I am now playing on Limit Breaker!'

* * *

**Part 4**

"Okay, Kamijou just calm down! They just got here, what's the worst thing they could do?"

A flashback to all the other times they went on there missions flashed inside of Kamijou's head.

The scene that Kamijou saw gave him some slight breathing problems.

Touma frantically searched the entire facility trying to look as casual as possible.

Which wasn't much since he was stopped almost every 5 minutes by the students of this prestigious Academy who were dressed in Maid outfits asking him if he was lost. Wait a second…...Maid outfits?

This made Touma think of one of his friends.

Aogami Pierce did not live in a student dormitory-like Touma but was living the rare life in a boarding house at a bakery. It was said that he stayed there because the bakery uniform resembled a maid outfit.

(OH GOD NO!)

* * *

**Tokiwadai Embroidery Room**

As Uiharu tried her best to keep up with her two friends she quickly found that her skill didn't quite match up.

In her attempts of Embroidery, she had made something that resembles something that was supposed to look like a sunflower.

She was actually quite proud of what she made until she glanced over at Saten's Embroidery.

Almost like a professional she had made a blue sports car on hers. And to make matters worse she complained that she'd gotten rusty.

It didn't help either when she turned over to see Mikoto draw a masterpiece that was simply labeled Gekota.

"How's yours coming along?"

"I-I Ah hahaha. Good."

She spent the next few minutes frantically trying to hide all evidence of her pitiful shortcoming known as her embroidery.

* * *

After countless amounts of dead man's sprints, Touma finally found his first clue in tracking down one of the members of the Delta Force.

Because the MidSummer Festival opened its doors to the public almost all of the facility was open to the public.

Keyword Almost.

Touma wandered the borders of what guests were supposed to see he finally came upon his first clue.

One of the crowd control belts that were used to block off certain areas of the dorm was tipped over.

Touma grimaced as he realized where this crowd control belt led to.

The girl's living quarters.

(What should I do?) Kamijou wondered.

"I have to go in."

"No my heart isn't ready for this…...No be still my foolish heart. I have to, if not for me these innocent girls wouldn't be in trouble in the first place."

Was he making excuses for entering this restricted section of the building?

Yes.

Did he enter the living quarters of these girls shamelessly under the guise of pure intentions?

Yes.

* * *

**Part 5**

**Tokiwadai Dining Hall**

The Dining hall was lined up with some of the most gourmet meals for today's Midsummer Festival.

In fact, it even had its own buffet that a certain silver-haired nun was eating her way through.

Uiharu swooned as she picked up her meal, "Ahhh, I don't ever want to leave. I wanna live here now."

Mikoto smiled as she took her plate and went off to a table to eat.

"Hmm?" Uiharu turned around in line to see Saten struggling to cut a cake.

(Does she not know how to use a knife?)

Whatever the reason was Uiharu wanted cake.

"Here allow me."

She took the knife out of her friend's hands and started cutting the cake into piece appropriately sized to eat.

"EHHH! How could you do that to such a pretty cake!?"

Uiharu rolled her eyes, "That's not something someone who ate raw sugarcraft works should be saying."

"***Sigh*** Wait, are you sure you should be getting that many?"

Uihru grinned, "Just like Index-sama I have a second stomach just for desserts."

Just then the two girls heard the moaning of a certain female Anti-Skill officer who ate a bit too much food.

The two watched as another female Anti-Skill Officer dragged her away.

Sufficient it to say Uiharu put back a few slices of cake after that.

After all who could possibly match that Nun's stomach?

At her table, Mikoto poked at her food since she wasn't very hungry, she was on edge since she'd have to perform live in front of everyone here.

In fact, she was so nervous she was even considering faking being sick to get out of the whole event.

"Onee-san!"

Mikoto turned to recognize the small little girl that latched herself to her leg.

"Huh, aren't you from Asunaro Park. How'd you get here?"

A small chill went through Mikoto's spine as she heard her speak.

"I invited them."

The Dorm Manager was surrounded by the small children of Asunaro Park. It had seemed that she had invited them over to see the festivities here.

The Little girl who latched onto Mikoto's leg proceeded to tell her about her day and how much fun it was.

It was nice until she mentioned something that she was dreading.

"You know what I'm most looking forward to today is?"

Mikoto smiled as she tilted her head, "Mm-hmm, what are you looking forward to?"

The little girl let go of Mikoto's leg and smiled, "Seeing Mikoto Onee-san preform."

"Yeah, we're gonna cheer really loud for you, so good luck."

Mikoto's blood ran cold as she felt the Dorm Manger's hand on her shoulder and the dark aura she radiated close in on her as she leaned in to whisper in her ear.

"You heard the girl. You're gonna meet the children's expectations. Right?"

Mikoto struggled to breathe for a moment before giving a weak reply of, "Y-Yes,.."

There was no backing out now unless she wanted dream crusher to be on her headstone.

* * *

Touma had passed the point of no return to find a giant hall.

The interior looked like a place nobles would live in. The walls and ceiling were mostly white and a red carpet covered the floor. He thought it might just have been nouveau riche tastes, but he also had a feeling that an intruder would greatly stand out with that coloration.

The area was wrapped in a calm silence like a shrine or a temple. This put Touma even more on edge as he continued down the halls.

He had searched the first floor as best he could and was now on the second floor. As he continued his way through the hall he noticed something strange about a certain room so he went closer to inspect it.

The number was displayed on the wooden door in gold numbering.

_**208**_

Touma felt it was like the door to a hotel room.

He opened the door and the inside was like a hotel room as well. There was a door to what was likely a bathroom immediately inside and there were two beds, a side table, and a small refrigerator further in. There was nothing like a closet, so it seemed all personal items were kept in the giant suitcases next to the beds.

"Huh, what's all this?"

Touma scanned over the side table trying to find something that might help him when he came upon a picture frame that had been dropped.

Touma felt awkward being in a girl's room when she wasn't there. But as a man, it was his duty to find something to help him find these intruders.

He turned to flip the picture frame over and saw who was on it.

It was a middle, school-aged girl. Her shoulder-length brown hair glowed a flame-orange in the sunset. She wore a gray pleated skirt, a short sleeve blouse... At that point, he suddenly realized who she was.

"M-M-M-M-MIKOTO!"

Panic set in quickly as Touma dropped the picture frame and began backing up as though it was gonna explode.

Eventually, he tripped over himself and landed on someone's bed.

He could feel the soft texture of the bed on his back as he laid there.

At that moment he didn't know what he wished for more, for this to be Kuroko's or Mikoto's bed.

It really didn't matter since if either of them ever found out he was in their room nevertheless in one of their beds, he was as good as a deadman.

Though it was okay since no one saw him, right?

Before he could sigh in relief he heard childlike laughing coming from the entrance to the door as it slowly creaked open.

"Pfft Wow, Kami-yan I never expected you to do something like this. So you really are aiming for that **Harem Ending**."

"Aogami, Oh, God!"

The door closed and he could hear footsteps running down the hall.

The chase was on!

* * *

**Part 6**

**MidSummer Festival Auction**

As the festivities continued Tokiwadai held an auction that donated all its proceeds to the noble cause of Child Error facilities.

The winner of 3 designer bags was none other than the senior Judgement Officer of the Branch Office 177 Konori Mii.

Where did these bags come from?

Well the gracious Queen herself donated them to the auction in her benevolence (She didn't like the design since it didn't have stars on it, always make sure to read labels, online folks)

As Konori was getting teased on spending so much money on the auction they heard in the background a bid for a Kirugumar Stationery Set.

It was only ¥100 yen so Uiharu was going to place a bid, that is before she heard someone say.

"¥10,000 Yen!"

Up proudly walked Kuroko Shirai to collect her prize that was in her eyes priceless.

While on stage she noticed her friends wave her over so she obliged.

Saten stared at her in disbelief, "Y-You ran away from the kitchen, just to spend ¥10,000 on some Stationery Set. You're almost as bad as Index when it comes to your unreasonable purchases."

Kuroko slyly grinned as she clicked her tongue, "Oh this isn't just some Stationery Set. For you see this was donated personally by Onee-sama. The pencil the board was all donated by her and in part has some of her love imbued as she donated them."

Kuroko then started rubbing the Stationery Set on her face, "Oh Kuroko you lucky devil!"

Index tilted her head and whispered to Saten, "But Ruiko, I was there when Mikoto bought those she never even used them once. It was just to donate."

Saten softly whispered back, "Just let her dream Index. Just Let her dream."

Konori rolled her eyes, "Speaking of Misaka, have either of you seen her?"

"Oh well, you see…"

Before Saten could continue she was interrupted by a middle school girl dressed in an authentic Japanese styled maid outfit. She was accompanied by two other young ladies both dawning Tokiwadai uniforms. They were both slightly blushing as though they were embarrassed or something.

The sight was so shocking it even snapped Kuroko out of her daze.

"K-Kongo Mitsuko!? What's the deal with that outfit!?"

Kongo grinned as she lightly tapped her hand fan to her face, "Oh my, what a clueless dunderhead you are, for you see I am dressed in the true spirit of a maid! I have come to teach to you the true ways of the maid! What benevolence if I say so! This outfit is authentically English, in Japanese style."

Shirai wasn't impressed.

The conversation the two went along the lines of,

"Now will you please say, 'Welcome home my lady'."

"No."

"Why even in that outfit my lessons are pointless to you."

Eventually, to keep the peace and more importantly keep Kongo in one piece, Shirai had challenged her to show her true maid colors.

Kongo complied and went round and round before curtseying towards her and said.

"Welcome home my lady."

To which she replied.

"I'm thirsty, so please go get me something to drink along with everyone else ."

Kongo cutely replied, "As you wish my lady" and skipped off to go retrieve the refreshments.

"***Sigh*** Thank goodness she's so easily handled." She then turned to face Wannai and Awatsuki "How do you deal with her on a daily basis?"

Wannai softly chuckled, "She isn't a bad person. In fact, just today she invited us to come to the MidSummer Festival."

Saten widen her eyes slightly, "Wait so you're saying you don't live here in the dorms?"

"No, there are actually two girls dorms at Tokiwadai Middle school."

Awatsuki nodded, "Yes, one here and one in the **Garden of Learning.** Myself Wannai and Kongo all live there."

Uiharu gasped, "I-Inside that beautiful town! Where a fair maiden is only a stone's throw away!

Index nodded her head, "I heard Misaki moved here to there, is that common?"

"Huh? N-No actually, in fact, moving procedures like that take time and even then isn't very likely."

Shirai sighed, "Just goes to show you the amount of influence that girl has over the school."

"A-Anyways have you seen Miss Misaka anywhere, I'd like to tell her I was looking forward to seeing her perform,"

"Hmm, no actually she said she was going to go to the restroom before she got changed for her performance."

"That reminds me! This is no time to being to be hanging around, we have to get good seats to see Onee-sama's performance!"

* * *

As Mikoto dragged her feet to her room she couldn't help but feel as though the pressure was getting to her.

This wasn't the first time she was asked to perform live in fact just a few months ago she did a live demonstration in Russia.

Though even after all that she couldn't help but still succumb to the feelings of her own insecurities.

What if she messed up and let everyone down?

What if she tried her best and still didn't meet the expectations of everyone there?

As Mikoto collapsed onto her bed she lay there thinking of what to do next.

"***Sigh*** Wait a minute was someone on my bed?" She had noticed the stuffed bear she had placed there had been moved slightly, "Tch! I'll have to teach Kuroko about respecting people's boundaries."

* * *

**Part 7**

As Touma ran through the halls he was closing in on Aogami.

Aogami was just as or faster than Touma due to his lifestyle.

At first, it felt odd being the one chasing someone down for the sake of beating them, is this how all the thugs who chased him down felt like?

Whatever the reason Aogami wasn't helping the situation by frantically throwing small pieces of furniture at him.

He threw paperweights to the occasional flower pot in the hopes of evading capture.

With all the noise Touma couldn't help but wonder at how no one was hearing this.

"AOGAMI STOP RUNNING AND FIGHT ME LIKE A MAN!"

Touma shouted despite knowing it was just a waste of stamina.

He received no reply as they continued dashing their way through the halls.

Right as he was about to give up he noticed that Aogami had run into a dead end. The corridor that he ran through led to some sort of storage room with no way out.

"***Gulp* **Wait Kami-yan let's talk about- GWAH!"

The time for civil discord had ended and Touma had tackled Aogami into the room as hard as he could.

They say humans devolve into fight or flight when presented with a conflict.

This was no different when Aogami recovered and found himself trapped in the room with Touma.

The two idiots started rolling up their sleeves for a Fight.

"Hey…..Ow….stop biting Aogami and fight me what are you 6!?"

The storage room that was once in pristine condition had been reduced to looking like a hurricane had gone through it. The shelves that lined the walls were grounded as Touma was either thrown at them or threw Aogami at them.

"Stop resisting Fetish King and just let me hit you!"

"NEVER!"

The two quickly found themselves wrestling each other to the ground while screaming profanities at each other.

Eventually, Touma surprised himself and used a Judo Throw on Aogami throwing him over his shoulder and onto the ground.

Using this opportunity to catch his breath Touma slowly got up and looked at his surroundings.

The room was in utter turmoil all the shelves had been knocked over by their fight.

He continued to search the room and noticed something that almost sent him into cardiac arrest.

There was a laundry machine in the corner of the room along with a large laundry cart full of dirty uniforms.

"No!"

Yes, for you see this wasn't a storage closet like he assumed. No this was the laundry room.

Aogami then started to pick himself up and face Touma one last time.

"So it's come to this Kami-yan. I'm going to enjoy my Youth. You can't stop me."

He began to rush Touma, clenching his fist and thrusting it full force towards his gut.

Touma had no chance to dodge so he did the only thing he could do.

He clenched his teeth and took the hit.

"Try saying that again, dammit!" Touma yelled from his bottom of his gut and aimed for the area between Aogami's chin and lower lip with his forehead. With a sound like a flower pot that had been dropped from somewhere high up, Aogami's neck bent backward.

Touma then slammed his clenched fist into the top of Aogami's nose causing him to fall to the ground.

Out of sheer adrenaline, Aogami spoke once more "You can't stop me."

Aogami regained his footing and charged Touma once more for his final strike.

"Tch! I'm gonna shatter that messed up illusion of yours!"

The fists hit their targeted faces, and they both lost their balance.

But only one of them fell.

"Heh, I win Aogami! Hooray!"

His victory was cut short when he heard someone knock on the other side of the door.

* * *

Kongo wandered the halls searching for refreshments though she honestly had no idea where anything was since she didn't live in this dorm and she was too proud to ask for directions.

Eventually, she came upon a small group of students all congregating in one section of the room.

"What's this?"

One of the girls answered. "Apparently a guest wandered into the living quarters, we're waiting for the Dorm Manager to come and help us investigate."

Kongo opened her fan, "There's no need, for I Kongo Mitsuko shall help you investigate!"

She proceeded to march past the knocked over crowd control belt and into the living quarters.

The students who were on the fence about waiting for the Dorm Manager joined her.

As they looked around they noticed the first floor was in shambles.

Fragments of once pristine Flower pots lined the once clean floors along with a trail of footprints leading down the corridor.

Kongo eventually stopped marching forward to inspect the other things that had fallen due to whatever deviants' actions.

The group of students eventually heard screaming coming from that very said corridor and heard what sounded to be a boy's voice.

As they got closer they could hear the voice more clearly.

"Heh, I win...! Hooray!"

Fear grasped their hearts as they realized that the voice came from there laundry room.

Like any sensible girl would they came to the conclusion that some deviant had snuck into the restricted section of the dorm to go through their Laundry.

The girls were furious so they began to knock on the door only to hear the sound of the lock turning from the other side.

They would not be so kind, a second time.

***BAM!**BAM!**BAM!***

***BAM!**BAM!**BAM!***

***BAM!**BAM!**BAM!***

"OPEN THE DOOR!"

"WE KNOW YOU'RE IN THERE!"

"JUST GIVE UP NOW AND ADMIT TO YOUR WICKED DEEDS!"

"MOVE ASIDE I KONGO MITSUKO SHALL BRING THIS HEATHEN TO HEEL!"

* * *

Touma cried tears as he realized how much fate had screwed him over.

He went over the events that lead him here. And realized from an outside perspective his chances of survival were slim, to say the least.

The odds of him being able to escape through the window in the back of the room were slim to none since it would make too much noise.

Even if he were to explain to them the situation they would still most likely arrest him.

Touma looked around the now mostly destroyed room trying to find some sort of solution when his eyes found it.

He bit his lip and considered his options.

He then heard the sounds of someone saying 'Brace Yourselves!'

Touma was well aware that everyone who attended Tokiwadai was an exceptional Esper, so it wouldn't be a stretch to say that one of them should be able to break down this door.

Touma sighed as he did the one thing he could to ensure his survival.

* * *

"Brace Yourselves!"

***Boom***

Kongo had used her esper ability **Aero Hand **to create an ejection point on the door to launch it from its hinges essentially breaking down the door.

Kongo smirked but soon felt a dark aura from behind her as she felt someone's hand on her shoulder.

"I'll overlook this, this time but if you use your ability in the dorms again….."

Kongo struggled to nod her head.

When the Dorm Manager stepped inside she saw the room in ruins.

She had no idea if it was the delinquent who did this or Kongo's ability.

Whatever the case she quickly spotted the culprit. A blue-haired boy that laid out cold on the floor.

"Huh? How'd did I…...wait a second NO!…."

***Crack crack crack***. Aogami's face got pulled. He wanted to say something to the Tokiwadai Dorm supervisor, but...

"I can imagine you know what happens next, don't you?"

Before he could answer the supervisor's question—his neck got twisted with a crack. The blue-haired pervert silently collapsed there.

The sounds of his neck ran through the room as everyone there shuttered as they saw the Dorm Manager drag his body out of the room.

With that everyone began leaving the room.

Kongo stopped for a moment to look at the room once again to make sure he didn't have an accomplice but couldn't find any evidence of one the window was still closed so logically speaking he was the only one in the room, right?

She shrugged as she followed the rest of the group as they dragged the culprit away to Justice.

* * *

**Part 8**

Like a scuba diver who had been underwater too long, Touma slowly rose to the surface.

He first stuck his hands out so he could get a better grip on himself before he pulled himself up.

Touma breathed heavily as he did what he needed to survive.

He stepped out of the Laundry cart that was filled with articles of women's clothing and was filled with even more determination to take down the last remaining member of the Delta Force.

When he was under there it was like he unlocked Nirvana or something because it suddenly all became clear to him where Motuharu was.

He clenched his fist and climbed out of the small window there and planned his final showdown with The **SisCon Sergeant**.

* * *

**Tokiwadai Temporary Maids Quarters**

The door creaked opened and closed as Tsuchimikado turned around.

"Well, it seems you finally found me Kami-yan,"

Touma sighed as he began blocking the exit, "So this was your plan all along wasn't it?"

Tsuchimikado raised his eyebrow, "Oh and what might that be? Mr. Double Agent."

"So, you knew."

Tsuchimikado casually chuckled and said, "Of course I did, how could anyone not. Just between you and me, you'd make a terrible spy."

Touma clenched his fist, "***Sigh*** Whatever it doesn't change the outcome anyway."

"How so Kami-yan?"

"You both knew that I wouldn't tell on you guys because that would make me scum, yes?"

"Hmph, The thought did cross our minds I won't deny that nya."

"Well, you both were right on the money there, if you don't mind me asking why'd you want to sneak in? I mean in Aogami's case he just wanted to videotape Mikoto's performance to show the class to become more popular but you, why did you want to sneak in?"

Tsuchimikado snickered for a bit, "Well, to be honest, I just wanted some practice, you get rusty if you don't train every now and again so this was that."

Touma nodded, "I see…"

"So what now?"

"Well if Aogami hadn't gotten a good hit in on me when I fought him, I would've kicked your ass here and now."

If Touma could see past his dorm neighbor's sunglasses he would've seen him roll his eyes at that statement.

"But now…...well"

Touma reached into his pocket and grabbed something.

"I'm sorry"

For a second Tsuchimikado's perfectly fitted glasses were about to slip off.

"W-What're you doing Kami-yan?"

Touma sighed, "You see you guys were right, if I told on you I'd be scum, but you know what if I let you guys do anything immoral to one of these girls than I'd be worse than scum."

"So…...I hope you can forgive me Tsuchimikado-dono"

The surprise in Tsuchimikado's face was evident as he saw a pair of women's articles fly into the air and eventually fall at his feet.

The horror set in for him as he saw Touma turn the knob on the door to open it and saw him point his finger towards him.

Once the door was fully opened it was clear who was on the other side.

They say the reason why Tsuchimikado Maika always sits atop of her Cleaning robot is that when she touches the earth's surface she becomes the embodiment of pure destruction.

Touma saw validity in this statement when he felt the dark aura emanated from her when she looked down at the ground in front of her stepbrother's feet.

"Onii-chan."

The only words Tsuchimikado could mutter out before the end was.

"KAAAMIIII-YAAAAN!"

* * *

"Hmph, you did a good thing Onii-chan, telling on my stepbrother like that."

Touma rubbed the back of his head nervously, "T-Thanks, and thanks for understanding to, I really didn't mean to let them in it just sorta happened."

Maika waved him off, "It's alright, everything worked out in the end anyway why don't you go enjoy the festival now, I think Miss Misaka is about to perform any minute now."

Touma smiled, "Thanks I will,"

* * *

**Part 9**

**Backstage**

Mikoto grabbed her chest, "Oh no, my hearts starting to pound"

She tried to steady her breathing but the dress she was wearing wasn't doing her any favors.

She wore a beautifully elegant white and black stage dress. Her usually haircut was now more refined as it was all held together by an ornate flower hairpin along with a blue bow.

On the surface, anyone would call her beautiful but, she still felt insecure.

"Ah geez keep it together."

She started to lightly slap her cheeks in the hopes to garner more courage.

"Umm Are you okay?"

Mikoto's mouth gaped open as she saw Touma stand in front of her rubbing the back of his head, almost as if he was unsure at what to do.

"W-What're you doing here!?"

She then noticed that he looked as though he had just been in a fight as his face was bruised and his clothes were slightly ripped and torn up.

"I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you-"

"I wasn't scared!"

"O-Okay. I wasn't doing anything bad I swear I just got lost and ended up here ."

Mikoto then looked at him once again, "Then why does it look like you just got beat up."

"Hey I'll have you know I won that fight…..anyways that doesn't matter I came here to tell you something."

Mikoto clicked her tongue, "What!? Are you here to make fun at my recital!? Did you come to laugh at my dress!?"

"Huh? No, why would I do that? I think you look really pretty," Before she could let that comment settle in he pulled out something and handed it to her. "Good luck and Here for you."

When Mikoto went to look at what he had just handed her she felt as though her heart skipped a beat.

"I-Is this a Gekota Makeup pouch!? I thought they only made 4 prototypes because the intended target demographic was deemed too old!? How do you have a Super Rare collectible!?"

Touma didn't really understand what she meant since he wasn't very well versed in Gekota. He knew enough not to get the characters confused but stuff like this went over his head.

"L-Lets just say I got it from a friend. Anyways I wanted to give this to you for a while now as a thank you for helping me out, you know."

Mikoto stared at it for a moment.

(H-He got this for me?)

"Thank you."

Touma smiled, "No problem, and don't worry you got this, I've seen you take on a giant fire monster before, so a crowd of people like this should be no trouble."

She smiled as she watched him rush out into the crowd.

With newfound conviction, she went to pick up her violin and headed on stage to perform.

(I guess that guy is good for something every once in a while, huh?)

* * *

Touma ran as fast as he could to find a seat in the crowd and was eventually waved over by Index.

"Touma, where have you been?"

Saten's eyes then widened, "And why does it look like you just got beat up!?"

"***Sigh*** It doesn't matter,"

Kuroko nodded, "He's right. It really doesn't."

Trying to keep the conversation civil Uiharu steered the conversation in another direction. "S-So they say Misaka's doing a violin solo."

Before any of them could give a comment they heard the applause, start as Mikoto made her way on stage.

Touma smiled as he pulled out the small camera Aogami had on him to record this very event.

With the violin now in her hands, Mikoto started to string a beautiful melody.

The crowd was captivated as she continued her serenade.

This was her only performance of the entire Festival and it was well worth it as the harmonious music rang throughout the crowd.

It was here she truly lived up to her name as the Ace of Tokiwadai.

* * *

Once the song ended and the applause died down Mikoto finally came out from backstage and returned to see her friends.

They all congratulated her on the amazing performance and she graciously thanked them.

Though everyone found it odd when she wanted to speak to Touma alone.

"So what did you wanna talk to me about?"

Mikoto narrowed her eyes, "How'd you end up so roughed up? You mentioned something about winning a fight, but who would fight you when you were at the festival?"

Touma shuttered a bit, "L-Look it's a long story and I don't want to waste your-"

"I got time."

Touma's words died in his throat at this response.

"So are you gonna tell me or do I have to call Kuroko over and-"

"No, No, No I'll tell, I'll tell. It's just…...please don't get mad until the stories over."

Mikoto didn't know how to react to this so she simply sighed and said, "Fine."

* * *

Once Touma told her the story (Minus the part where he ended up in her room, he didn't want to die after all) she stared at him suspiciously.

"So you're telling me, you accidentally let your friends in after trying to get them caught for sneaking in and because of that you fought one of your friends and eventually got his neck snapped by the Dorm Manager. While the other got chewed out by his stepsister, am I getting that all right?"

Touma nodded, "I'm so sorry, I messed up bad if it makes you feel any better my friends are probably gonna jump me the moment I step out of this building. They don't take too kindly to scum."

Mikoto sighed, "You're not scum. You're an idiot that's for sure but you're not scum."

"S-So you're not mad?"

"Oh no, I'm mad and I'm probably gonna get you back for this later but for now you're good. You did get me this new Gekota makeup bag after all and it doesn't seem like you did anything that bad."

Touma sighed in relief, "Oh there's another thing I wanted to talk to you about."

"What is it?"

"Heh well, it's actually more of a favor when I think about it."

"What kind of favor?" Her gaze sharpened.

"Well, I wanted to train ever since I got outta the hospital so I was wondering if you would spar with-"

"YES!"

"Whoa, calm down there Lighting Warrior Princess, you seem way too eager for this."

She nodded, "Sorry, it's just nobody ever challenges me anymore since I was named a Level 5. So yeah I'd be happy to fight you, though can I ask why you want to challenge me now?"

"As I said before, I wanna spar not fight. Really I just wanna test out my powers I never really had a chance before now so and it'd be nice to see what I can and can't do."

Mikoto nodded, "Makes sense"

Touma then tossed her a small digital camera, "Here it has your recital on it, you should have it, you were really good."

"T-Thanks, anyway we should probably get back knowing Kuroko she's probably getting ready to….that reminds me of something."

Touma watched Mikoto stomp back to the group.

He heard Mikoto shout something about 'staying off her bed' followed by blueish white sparks.

* * *

After spending a few more hours at the Festival Touma said his goodbyes and headed home.

As he was walking down the streets he noticed someone in front of him who blocked his path.

It was Aogami, he was currently sporting a neck brace and several bruises around his whole body.

"Hey Aogami, what's up….wait if you're here where's Tsuc…."

***THWACK***

Hello, darkness my old friend.

* * *

As Touma laid there on his back staring at the sky, he heard his two friends yell at him for one reason or another.

It seemed as though Aogami had been sentenced to community service for a majority of his remaining summer break.

Tsuchimikado, on the other hand, was not so lucky. Apparently, Makia said something along the lines of 'come back to the dorm when you have gotten your act together' and shunned him.

Right as he was about to see stars he heard.

***BIRI BIRI***

His friends were now smoldering on the street beside him as he slowly got up to see the mysterious heroine.

"Can't have you going to the hospital before our big fight. See ya."

"Thanks."

Touma then turned to his fallen comrades and said.

"Talk to you later?"

"Yep"

"See ya Kami-yan"

Mikoto's mouth gaped as she wondered what kind of friendships did boys have with each other.

* * *

**Epilogue**

**Touma's Dorm**

Touma was relieved that he was finally able to get home in one piece.

This day had been so hectic that he couldn't believe that his Map still survived.

"As long as Misaki never sees this I should be good, besides it's not like I'm gonna use it or anything, right?"

Map in hand Touma opened the door to his dorm.

"Besides I'm home now, what's the worst that could happen?"

"Suprise!"

***SHATTER!***

That foolish illusion of safety Touma had put on himself had shattered.

Apparently, Misaki wanted to surprise Touma with dinner when he got back from the MidSummer Festival.

"Touma, what's wrong?" Her eyes then zeroed in on the piece of Parchment he was holding.

"M-M-M-Misaki it's not what it-"

The light from her eyes faded as the aura around her started to grow cold, "Is that the ridiculous Map that we agreed to destroy?"

"L-Listen it not what it looks like, I didn't even use it...I mean I did but not like that...Besides what's the harm in me having this-"

"Touma."

"***Sigh*** I know the drill….such misfortune."

And so the now the once thought to be destroyed Map had been taken by the Queen, but not without giving him a word of advice in the form of a lecture.

* * *

After all, was said and done, Misaki and Touma actually enjoyed a pleasant evening in Touma's dorm.

Normally Touma would've cooked but this was one of the rare occasions where Misaki cooked. (or I should say she bought)

"So, in the end, your perverted friends lack self-control ability, caused them to get in trouble?"

Touma nodded, "Yeah like I explained earlier they tried to get me to join them so I pretended to say yes while I worked as a Double agent."

Misaki clapped her hands cutely in approval, "Though I have one question, my Prince. Why didn't you tell me about this earlier? It's not like I would've said no."

Touma sighed, "I-I don't know, I guess I just wanted to do this on my own, I mean I know you mean well but sometimes it feels like your trying to run my life for me."

Miskai grabbed his hand, "I-I'm sorry if you feel like that really, I don't want to run your life, I just want you to be happy."

Touma smiled, "It's okay really, I know your just looking out for me is all. Oh, by the way, Tomorrow Mikoto and I are sparing."

Misaki's face went pale for a moment before she regained composure. "O-Okay then…."

"Hey, Misaki are you feeling okay? You're looking pale."

"I-I'm fine…..J-Just try to be safe."

"Hmmm? What'd you mean?"

It took all of her willpower not to protest it but she managed to, "In any case are you excited for our Date Tomorrow?"

"Yeah to the Fireworks show right?"

"Precisely."

"I still haven't found anything to wear though."

Misaki's face lit up, "Well if that's the case you could always put on that new leather jacket."

"Hmm? Are you sure?"

Misaki nodded as she smiled. "Completely"

* * *

**Omake**

**Yuki**

Touma knocked on Yuki's door waiting for him to answer.

The door swung open and Yuki greeted him, "What the hell do you want now?"

Touma smiled, "I'm playing double agent for my friend's invasion of the Tokiwadai MidSummer Festival, I was wondering if you wanted to join in?"

Yuki was actually surprised. At first, he thought he was joking because there was no way someone could be that stupid, right?

He waited for him to say 'just kidding'. Though when that phrase never came he realized that he was being serious.

"So what'd say?"

Yuki laughed and gave his response as eloquently as he good.

The response Touma received was a door slammed in his face.

"Yeah, should've seen that coming."

* * *

**Omake Misaki's day**

Misaki sighed as she opens the door to Kumokawa's office.

"Is there any reason, in particular, you wanted to waste my time old had. I rather increase my relationship ability with Touma by accompanying him to the MidSummer Festival.

Kumokawa sighed, "Yeah there is, brat. How long did you think you could avoid this conversation?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

Kumokawa rolled her eyes, "We both know that's a lie."

Misaki sighed, "So it's about him, isn't it?

Kumokawa sighed, "How long did you really think Kamijou could associate himself with Accelerator and not draw attention. Especially after that stunt, they pulled with Big Spider."

"...So what now?"

Kumokawa slumped in her chair, "I think we both know what has to happen now."

* * *

**Author's Notes**

'The Recovery Arc' has ended and now its time to start the Poltergisting Arc


	24. Chapter 24 Save the Date II Poltergeist

**Hey, thanks for reading A Certain Scientific Counter. And thank you to everyone who left a review it really helps me out in getting new ideas for the series. I'd also like to thank my Beta Reader Graeskog for helping me edit this chapter. Without further ado Q&A.**

**D. N Works- I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter and only a select few people know about the duo's relationship. Particularly the only who have a particular interest in the two for their own ends.**

**Deus Aut Bestia- No you understand too well. :)**

**Fortitude501- They teach them how to be maids, though if you take anime as an example some of the most destructive people are maids. Rem from ReZero some of the cast in Black Butler and that Virgo from Fairy Tail. Though she didn't actually hit him just lecture and yell, even if she were to try to hit him since Tschumikado loves his sister he'd take it like a champ.**

**Anti-Mage29- Thank you and I know about her but since she won't be introduced for some time now I can still use both without confusing people though maybe I'll stick to her given name as to not confuse people. Spar! Save the kids Kami!**

**BlueJack22- The Delta Force is still close just not all the time. This is mainly since he started hanging out with new people, though they'll still be part of the story since they're both still some of his best friends.**

**awardedall- Your welcome and thank you for the comment.**

**Ril Noyama- I know right. But he'll have to start practicing now to get ready for the real thing.**

**Chris- Hooray big comment. His Misfortune indeed. Yeah, you can't really blame Misaki for being overprotective especially with the week she just had with him. 007 Kamijou reporting in. He used that assist like a champ, he knew he couldn't win in a straight-up fight so he used his kryptonite. Mh-mm gaining points every day. And yeah, there wasn't even a second of hesitation there. And he thought he was home free, he's gotta learn not to tempt fate. And yeah Yuki said no, he honestly thought he was gonna turn on the TV and see Touma on the news for getting arrested. And the plot thickens. Thank you, and thank you for your review.**

**Nguyen Thanh Long- He'll meet them eventually.**

**Guest- Don't worry Misaki will be involved and you're right fights are not always won by force. Thank you for the comment. (No te preocupes, Misaki estará involucrada y tus luchas correctas no siempre se ganan por la fuerza. Gracias por el comentario.)**

* * *

**Save the Date II Poltergeist**

**August 5**

**Early Morning**

The sun was just starting to rise on Academy City as Two students found themselves on a familiar river bank at the break of dawn.

Kamijou Touma the misfortunate highschooler was wearing an orange shirt with shorts. While his high school did have a dress code it was less enforced than others. For example one of his best friends Tsuchimikado wore a flashy gold chain with his uniform.

He was currently only 1 meter apart from his sparring partner.

Misaka Mikoto #3 out of all of Academy City's Espers. She had shoulder-length light-brown hair, good looks that didn't need make-up, a short-sleeved white blouse with a summer sweater along with a gray pleated skirt and tan shorts.

Unlike him, she went to a prestigious school called Tokiwadai Middle School. They had a very strict dress code that made all students who attend wear their uniforms at all times even when there not on school properties.

You might think this was a bad thing but in reality, depending on the school uniform you wear you would get special discounts in certain stores. This was mainly due to the mob effect. An effect where when famous people go somewhere it will draw in a bigger crowd.

But this was neither the time or the place for all of that since the misfortunate boy was currently running for his dear life as he maneuvered around the iron sandstorm that his partner had conjured along with the spears of lighting she flung at him.

***SHATTER!* *SHATTER!* *SHATTER!**SHATTER!**SHATTER!**SHATTER!**SHATTER!***

"***Pant**Pant**Pant* **Okay, now that we got that out of your system, can we please try something else?"

The electromaster clicked her tongue, "Fine."

"Really? Thank you! For a second there I was thinking you were gonna go all edgy shonen protagonist on me and say 'not until I win!"

"Is that what you really think about me!?"

The instant the girl shouted, she unleashed a pale spark from her light-brown bangs.

(Crap, does she have no sense of humor?)

***Shatter!***

You'd think attempted murder by electrocution would be a friendship ender, no?

Well, thanks to Touma's right hand it wasn't.

It housed a special power known as Imagine Breaker. No matter if he was facing espers, magicians, or anyone wielding unknown powers, or even divine miracles, anything supernatural was negated when his right hand touched it.

"GEEZ! Okay, now that we know my right hand can survive that can we move on to the other one."

She rolled her eyes as they got back into position. "So what'd you want me to hit it with an electrical spear or an iron sand sword?"

Touma looked back and forth between the craters on the ground and the girl called Misaka Mikoto.

"Electric Spear?"

Now, what's this?

While this may sound like someone choosing one death sentence over another, it wasn't.

For you see the boy named Kamijou Touma not only had one ability but two.

His left hand housed an ability yet unknown to him.

A pale lightning-like spark jumped from her right palm and instantly struck his left palm directly.

***REVERB* *BIRI***

Suddenly a blueish white spark shot out from the boy's hand and directly at her.

She flinched for a moment.

The pain wasn't as terrible as gunshot or anything, it was more as if someone was shocked by static electricity as a practical joke than anything.

"A-Are you okay?"

She sighed for a moment, "Yeah, I made sure to make the voltage low enough, so I could guard against it, but you know that was weird."

"Uhhh ...can you be a little more specific there."

"Hmmm, how can I explain….think of it like you would a mirror except in this case you're mirroring my current flow, but keeping the energy signature the same"

"..."

From the blanks looks, she was receiving she could tell she was losing him.

"...Uhh, hmmm ...Well, the simplest way I can put it is your shooting my AIM field back at me with my electrical flow increased."

"Ahhhhh…...okay."

"You didn't understand a word I said, did you?"

Touma shook his head proudly.

"Don't be proud of that! I literally explained it to you in the simplest in I knew."

"Geez, I'm joking. Nayuta already told me something like that, but seriously you suck as a teacher."

"What!? I'm a great teacher!"

"You know what you're right. In fact, I think you should be a teacher. Cause I understood more of what you said right now than all the other times Komoe-sensei carefully and calmly explained it to me in class. Hell, I think you should be teaching her."

His sarcasm was soon met with another barrage of electrical spears.

* * *

Once they left they left the river bank they stopped at a park bench where Touma unpacked lunches for them both to eat.

"You made Nori bento boxes?"

"Yep, it was really early so I didn't have time to make breakfast and I was guessing you didn't either,"

"Thanks, I guess," As Mikoto ate her lunch she was actually surprised at how good it actually was, "Wow, I knew you were aiming to be a chef but this is really good."

"...Thanks...I guess...anyways about what you said earlier about copying your AIM Field, what'd you mean?"

"***Munch*** Well, whenever I shoot out my electricity I have to make specific calculations as to how much voltage I'm gonna use this includes measuring the Resistance in the air so I can shoot long distances. So when I zapped your hand it shouldn't have come back at me as it did."

"***Munch* **What'd you mean?"

"It's like I said, I had to make very specific calculations given where I was and where you were. So the fact that it came back to me means that you had to tweak the formula."

"Okay, but you know I couldn't do that even if I wanted to, right?"

She nodded as she continued eating, "Yeah you're not smart enough to make those kinds of calculations on the spot anyways. But what's weirder is it used my exact formula to."

"You have a formula?"

"Every esper does. The more complex the formula is, the more results you get. The formula I used on you was simple, it was just measuring the voltage over the resistance while taking distance into account. But when you shot it back at me…...I don't know, it was like I was shocking myself or something."

"That is weird. I can understand the basics of what my hands do. Right negates Left counters. How they do it, I don't know."

Mikoto then looked at him skeptically, " Hey can I see your hands for a second?"

"Sure"

"Hmmm…."

Mikoto began holding onto his right palm.

(Just like the last time, I don't feel my current moving at all)

She then let go of his hand and held onto his left palm.

(...But he should be feeling something right?)

She looked back at Touma who was just staring at her nervously.

"Kyhaaaaaa! Stop looking at me like that! I-I didn't do anything wrong, okay I mean It was for ...huh?"

"What's wrong, Mikoto?"

She just kept staring at his left palm.

"Shouldn't something be happening by now?"

Touma began to back up nervously,

"Heh?"

"I put a current through it so shouldn't it be shooting it back or something?"

"Y-You tried to shock me again, didn't you?"

With no shame whatsoever, she nodded.

"Yeah, so where're my sparks?"

"I don't know, I mean I didn't see any blue or white lights so…."

Mikoto looked at him as though he was a complete idiot, "Hey what color do you think electricity is?"

"Blue."

She facepalmed, "Y-You really are an idiot, aren't you? You're in high school and still don't know that electricity doesn't have a color."

"Heh!? What'd you mean? The lighting spears you usually shoot at me were blue so I thought…"

She raised her hand towards his face to stop his idiocy from spreading, "Electricity doesn't have a color. Electricity is simply the flow of electrons. The only reason you're seeing the color blue is that I'm raising the voltage in the air to make plasma which can be seen as blue. Do you understand now?"

Touma raised his hand, "Misaka-sensei, can I use the bathroom."

"***Sigh*** I'm starting to see why you have to take supplementary classes."

"Okay ouch, and now that the learning show is over what'd mean you passed a current through me?"

"So you really didn't feel it?"

Touma started opening and closing his left hand, "I mean I know you touched my hand and all but no apart from that nothing."

"Well, I don't know what to tell you. Your power doesn't make any sense to me. I mean I did shock you with more than enough voltage to pass through the air."

"As I said, I don't know what you're talking about."

Touma had gotten up from the bench and proceeded to go the vending machine, "Do you want anything?"

"Plum cider and I'm not dropping this. How can you just absorb that much electricity and walk it off and how come you didn't know electricity was invisible I mean what do they even teach you at…."

***Boom!*** The heavy vending machine shook from side to side like a mechanical bull.

Touma paled.

"Huh...So that's where it went. Hey, why are you running away!? Oi!"

"STOP TALKING AND RUN!"

He ran at full speed to get even just one millimeter farther away from the vending machine. Touma could usually tell when misfortune would strike; he'd get a feeling about a second before whenever something was about to go wrong. But not this time.

The sounds of the vending machines alarms screamed as he continued to make his escape.

* * *

**Part 2**

Touma didn't know how long he'd been running for just that he was now outside of the park and on some bus stop bench.

He gazed up at the clear blue sky and his eyes wandered to a passing Ad-blimp.

**Academy City news: "Mizuho Organization Withdrawing from Muscular Dystrophy Pathological Research."**

"Hey, why'd you run off!?"

"I didn't choose the misfortunate life Mikoto…..the Misfortunate life chose me."

Mikoto sighed as she sat down beside him, tossing a can into his lap. She looked peacefully at the wind turbines turning round and round nearby. "If it makes you feel any better I think I know how your power works."

"***Sigh***"

She cracked open a can of Plum Cider, "Well I think your power works on a catch and release type of system."

"? But that doesn't make any sense my fist wasn't clenched or anything."

"Huh? Did you just say your fist wasn't clenched?"

"Yeah, that's how I hold whatever power I absorb. I open when I want to shoot out whatever I absorbed."

"I think I actually might have lost some brain cells from that….Tell me, does clenching your fist really cover your whole palm.

Before Touma could test his theory out fully she stopped him.

"It doesn't! Are you telling me this whole time you've been thinking that you can hold back the full force of a railgun in your hand by clenching your fist?"

"...I wanna answer yes but I have a feeling your gonna…"

"It doesn't!"

"Then how did I-"

"Shhh! I need some time….." Mikoto gazed up into the sky.

"Huh? I helped out Mizuho Organization when I was younger. Shame they're closing down that section of their research."

Touma didn't dare to poke the bear. So, he just waited until she spoke to him.

Touma thought about what she said and it made logical sense.

He only learned he could store abilities when he was face to face with one of the graviton bombers explosives and absorbed it fully.

At the time it made perfect sense, but now that she explained that it didn't.

Logically speaking even if his fingers were immune to the blast there would still be some leakage, right?

And as he continued to think about, didn't Kanzaki tell him the feathers fell all over him including his left hand.

Shouldn't there have been some type of explosion back then?

Even if they were both passed out he felt as though Kanzaki would mention that he was firing off potshots in the air while passed out.

"***Sigh* **Look I didn't mean to pop off at you it's just ...You beat every time we fight and now that I know that you weren't even using half of the power that was at your disposal is kinda disheartening you know?"

Do you know the saying where you could beat someone with one arm tied behind your back? Well, Mikoto now felt that all the times she challenged Touma in the past were just a joke.

Touma rubbed the back of his head, "I'm sorry, It's just that I didn't really know how this power worked so I didn't wanna go using it against somebody."

Mikoto smiled, "I know…..Anyways like I said I think it works on a catch and release type of system. You can absorb my electricity and then shoot it back out whenever you want."

"If that's the case why didn't I automatically shoot your electricity back at you?"

Mikoto looked at Touma, "Tell me, have you heard of subconscious thinking?"

"Not enough to be an expert."

Mikoto rolled her eyes, "Same, but the point is you think your powers work like that so they do."

"Hmmm...you mean like how people back in the day thought blowing into game cartridges would help fix it?"

"Retro example but still works. Yeah from what I can tell, you expect that's how your power works so that's how it works. Here let me see your hand again."

***Reverb* *Biri***

"See it works fine right?"

"Yeah"

"But it shouldn't, I did the same thing I did last time, except now you know that electricity doesn't work the way you think it does."

"This is really complicated"

"Well if it makes it any easier just think that you can absorb whatever you want and not shoot it back if you don't want to, if the whole clenching your fist thing works then keep doing that, but don't think that you need to do it in order to not shoot it back."

"***Sigh*** Okay…..in any case I got something that might help you."

Mikoto looked suspicious,

"I-Is this a pachinko ball?"

"Yep, I noticed that you used arcade tokens as ammunition and read somewhere that **steel balls** were better because they would **spin**."

If you counted shonen manga as a reputable source of information then Touma obtained this idea from one of the most reputable sources out there.

Mikoto further examined it,

While it's true that pachinko balls weren't made from the same material as arcade tokens they were however about the same size at 11 mm in diameter. Pachinko balls also had more mass weighing 5.75 grams.

From a scientific point of view, this would be superior. There wouldn't be a downside to switching over to this ball as steel was also a great conductor so firing it off wouldn't take more energy than it would be firing off an arcade Token.

However, this wasn't what concerned her.

"How'd you even get one? You have to be 17 to enter Pachinko parlors in Japan."

"..."

"Anyways thanks, but I have a feeling that I wouldn't be able to spin this, did you mean twist rate, like with bullets?"

"Yeah…."

"...Why'd I even ask?"

"...Well now that that's out of the way what next on the agenda?"

Mikoto pulled out her phone and checked the time, "Well Uiharu mentioned something about meeting her new roommate today, so we were all heading over there to help her unpack, what about you?"

"Well, I was gonna try to head over to the hospital to talk Yuki again. And after that, I was gonna get ready to go to the firework festival today"

Mikoto raised her eyebrows, "Fireworks festival?"

"Yeah it's really cool, there gonna have vendors and everything me and Misaki were gonna head over there later tonight wanna tag along?"

"...No thanks.."

* * *

**Part 3**

**Accelerator's Hospital Room**

As Yuki laid there on his bed listening to his music his mind wandered.

"RISE AND SHINE YUKI!"

"***Sigh*** You know, I was kinda hoping you would've been in prison by now."

Touma waved that notion aside and casually chuckled, "Nah, not this Kamijou, no matter how many times they throw me in the slammer I always get out."

"Glad to see our justice system is as broken as ever, so what do you want, I'm busy."

This was a lie of course.

"Ohhhhh, and what do you have to do Yuki? I'd be glad to help….if there really is something."

This was a challenge.

"What do you want?"

"Well, I just wanted to tell you that I won at being a Double agent yesterday no thanks to you."

"Again, remind me why I should care?"

Touma then pulled out a piece of paper, "Well while you were here doing whatever you do when I'm not here, this Kamijou got an idea."

Accelerator looked skeptically as he read the piece of paper,

"What the hell is this?"

**PlayGround Gau Arcade Tournament**

"The arcade is having a Tournament today and I was thinking we should enter. The prize is pretty enticing too, it's ¥4,000 yen worth of tokens. So with a ¥100 yen entrance fee, it should be a good way to kill some time."

The prize was less than alluring to Accelerator. He was already well off when it came to money and what's more, this wasn't even real money it was tokens.

It was like a chain-restaurant giving out a gift card to there own restaurant as a prize.

Though there was one thing that did interest him.

The prospect of beating him at the game he had beaten him in.

Somehow Accelerator had a feeling that this was the selling point he was referring too.

"Fine, let's go."

"Great, just gotta make one-stop first, I'm gonna wear my new Leather Jacket later today so I'm gonna head home first to get it."

* * *

**Part 4**

"Ruiko, where are we going?" asked Index.

"We're gonna see Uiharu's new roommate and my new friend!"

"Is that how it works in Japan? If your friend moves in with someone new they become your friend. I never knew."

Index was new to the culture and accepted that there are some things she still didn't know about. For example, the agathions of this city were mechanical. (cleaning robots)

Kuroko shook her head. "No that's not at all correct. Anyways Saten-san you said that she transferred here from District 19"

Saten nodded, "Yep, don't know why though, hey have you seen Misaka around she said she'd meet up with us by now and I wanna show off."

Kuroko sighed, "No…..when I awoke this morning my dearest Onee-sama was nowhere to be seen. She left me a note saying she was going to help someone"

"Hmmm?"

Before too long Mikoto finally caught up with them.

"Hey, guys sorry I'm-"

"ONEE-SAMAA! Where have you been!? I was so lost without you!"

"Hey Saten, what's up?"

(ouch!)

(ouch!)

"***Sniff**Sniff* **That's so mean Onee-sama. I already told you I didn't mean to go on your bed."

(But I was so sure I put everything where it was originally down to her stuffed animals.)

Mikoto glared, "This is your last chance."

"THANK YOU SO MUCH ONEE-SAMA! This is such a glorious day. I knew my Onee-sama would be magnanimous."

Saten sighed in relief as she saw Kuroko hug Mikoto as though she was gonna fly away.

The group then soon found themselves at Uiharu's dorm.

Uiharu was in her usual school uniform while adorning her signature flower headband. The only thing that made this different was that she was standing with her new roommate Haruue Erii.

She was a young girl around the same age and build as Uiharu though unlike her she was dark brown hair and was wearing a casual pink dress.

The groups made their introductions and they headed up to the stairs of her dorm building to help her unpack.

When they all arrived they all noticed that the movers were less considerate.

While Uiharu was at the train station picking up Haruue they had left all of her things in boxes next to the front door.

After Kuroko teleported the giant pile of boxes all in one go into the dorm they got to work unpacking.

As Saten laid the last piece of flattened cardboard down she stretched and said, "That should do it."

Haruue nervously gave a small bow and said, "All of you, Thank you very much."

She was a bit shy.

Mikoto waved her off, "It's no problem really. What's more important is that we finished earlier than we expected to. So how about we go and have some fun?"

Before Uiharu could raise her hand in agreement she felt Kuroko grab onto her shoulder.

"We'd love to Onee-sama, but Uiharu and I have to be going to a joint conference soon."

Uiharu sighed disappointed that she wouldn't be able to have fun.

Such was the life of a Judgement Officer.

There were two positions that took down berserk espers and kept the general peace: the teachers' corps was called **Anti-Skill**, and the students chosen from every school were called **Judgment.**

This joint-conference was a rare occasion where both parties would discuss something that would affect everyone in Academy City. This could include a cut back on curfew or the more recent instance an esper gone wild such as the Graviton Bomber.

Mikoto sighed, "What's it about this time?"

"It's about the earthquakes we had recently"

"A conference about earthquakes?"

Saten then smiled, "Well what if she goes with us for now and you meet up with us later."

Haruue shared a concerned look with Uiharu but she reassured her that they were good people and nothing bad would happen.

* * *

Eventually, the 4 of them went to a local park to buy crepes and talk.

"This spot is a marker for new friendships, how do you like your crepe Haruue?"

"It's good."

Mikoto sighed, "Still it's a shame that they weren't able to come with us, why do you think they're talking about earthquakes?"

Saten's eyes gleamed, "Well I was trying to keep this on the down-low but apparently there's a hot rumor going around that it's not earthquakes but actually Poltergiestings."

"What's that?"

Saten clenched her fists in excitement, "Well apparently the source of all the shaking is a pulse form an alternate dimension! It's a special kind of plasma, you know, the governing board has been conducting secret underground experiments! In any case, they say there's gonna be a big one soon! See!?"

Saten proudly presented her phone which had the urban legends website pulled out.

Everyone present save for two people knew it was a complete lie.

Mikoto felt someone grab her shoulder, "Mikoto…...I'm scared ...what're we gonna do!? If another one comes how can we stop it!? I never once read about an extra-dimensional pulse in any of my 103,000 grimoires, were doomed!"

"***Sigh* **Saten can you cool it with the theories. Index is starting to believe that the end is nigh and I don't want to see her eat like there's no tomorrow. She already ordered 7 crepes just for herself."

"Hehe, sorry"

* * *

**Part 5**

**PlayGround Gau Arcade Tournament**

It was the final round of the Tournament only two players remained.

But only one would leave victorious.

"So how you feeling Yuki?"

"Like I'm about to beat the shit out of you."

All of the male students in the crowd cheered as they watched Yuki verbally assault Touma.

Why was this you ask?

Well while the Tournament was playing about Touma had won the hearts of all the girls who entered the Tournament as well.

Yep, he won them all. [**+70 charisma**]

You can imagine that they were all out for blood.

"TAKE HIM DOWN!"

"NO MERCY!"

"DID YOU GUYS GET THE SHOVELS YET?"

At all of these screams Touma sighed.

(Why do they all hate me? Haven't you guys ever heard of sportsmanship?)

He wouldn't dare say that to the mob, of course, they were all but one more push away from rushing him right now.

Accelerator glared at his opponent as the screen was about to load up.

If Touma could hear him over the shouts of the crowd he expected him to say something like 'you're going down.' or something else that an edgy protagonist would say.

***START!***

The match started as their characters appeared on the screen.

Accelerator made the first move using his villain character to attack Touma's.

Their clash was something to be seen as it didn't last too long.

As soon as he made contact he countered his attack and stuck his character with a **15-hit combo!**

The crowd was in an uproar as they saw their last hope take damage from the greatest evil that they'd ever seen.

Ironically Touma picked a Hero character though from the way the crowd was screaming you'd think he was the villain.

The match continued as Accelerator used the damage he took from the combo to increase his attack power.

His strategy was simple if he increased his already ridiculously high attack power up then he could use his super and finish him off with one hit.

It was a hell mary shot for sure since for this to work he'd have to get his own character below 5% of his original health, but it was one he was gonna take.

He had already calculated the necessary equations from watching his previous matches and deduced how much each of his strikes did all that was left now was to put all he learned into action.

Right as Touma landed his character signature right Accelerator blocked so his health would only go down to 4%.

Now was the time, in the split second between an attack that had been blocked his character was wide open.

"I win!"

Accelerator launched his super directly at Touma…

But one thing that Accelerator didn't calculate was Touma's insane reaction time.

Some would say it was at the level where it should be called precognition since his body reacted faster than his mind ever could as he negated the super midway.

In the very next frame, the screen read Touma's player name Victorious.

_**Winner: SAINT DESTROYER -FLAWLESS VICTORY!**_

"Y-You've gotta be shiting me!?"

The screams of disappointment were tantamount to a sports arena after, their home team lost.

"Tch! God DA-"

Before he could say another word Touma grabbed his shoulder.

"My friend Aogami got me with that strategy last time ...or should I say every time. I practiced day in and day out to try to get the timing right."

"What the hell are you trying to say?"

"I was gonna throw the game."

"..."

The crowd was silent as they listened in.

"I thought that if you won it might make you feel better, hell I was even gonna make it close so you couldn't even tell, I mean after everything you'd done for me it's the least I could do right?….. But a certain Biri Biri told me that I should always give it my all or it wouldn't mean a damn thing."

Touma smiled and said, "The only reason you lost was that I lost more times than you even picked up the controller. I must have tried to counter that move over 10,000 times. But this was the first time it actually worked. I had fun playing against you Yuki I can honestly say that. And I hope we can keep playing and if you ever want a rematch I'll be here waiting. We are friends after all."

Touma then pointed to himself, "But don't go thinking this Kamijou is gonna stay here all day, no thank you! I have a life outside of games to you know? Not all gamer otakus stay indoors all day I'll have you know."

Accelerator rolled his eyes and made what resembles a smile, "Whatever."

The crowd had died down and was now actually supporting Touma's good sportsmanship.

It was all going good for Touma, he even got his gift card for first place along with Accelerator who got second.

He made it outside of the Arcade when a girl who was in the crowd went up to him.

"That was really sweet of you to cheer up your friend after he lost."

Touma smiled "It's nothing really."

Little did he know that all the male students who were spectators and or competitors watched as all the girls who were in the store went up to him to congratulate him.

Eventually, it got to the point where he was surrounded by girls.

Even though Accelerator didn't know of Touma's knack for misfortune even he saw what was to come next. So he did what any friend would and pulled out his cellphone and started to record what was about to unfold.

The moment the crowd of girls had left they all saw that he had his phone out and had collected all of their gamer tags.

This was the last straw for the crowd.

"Huh!? W-Where did you guys come from?"

In the angry mob, he could make out one familiar face. A face that caused him to shutter.

Aogami Pierce.

It had seemed that he too was a competitor but was eliminated by Accelerator in the earlier preliminaries.

Though he wasn't here to actually win but to hit on the girls who also competed.

You can see now why he was so upset.

"So it wasn't enough for you to have one ojou-sama by your side? No, you wanted more."

The crowd turned to him as they waited for his clarification, "Everyone here, who actually has a girlfriend?"

The crowd was dead silent as no one moved.

The only hand that did move was Touma's as he slowly raised his.

"W-Wait a second you guys, listen to me-"

"GET HIM!"

"KYHA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! YUKI HELP ME!"

Accelerator laughed as he continued to record. "Don't worry, I did have fun today."

"YOU BASTARD!"

* * *

"Mikoto do you hear something?"

Mikoto turned to the sound in question, "Y-Yeah. What the hell is that?"

In the distance, they could see a spiky black-haired boy run for his dear life.

Haruue turned and said, "S-Shouldn't we help him?"

Index shrugged, "Touma's fine."

"Y-You know that boy?"

They all nodded.

Haruue was stunned silent as she looked at them as though she was disappointed in them.

Mikoto sighed, "Alright, I'll be right back."

* * *

Accelerator laughed as he finished his home video and continued down the street.

He was currently researching new ways to play the game that he'd just lost in and his eyes were glued to his screen.

* * *

As Mikoto ran up the street to catch up to Touma her eyes were locked on to the small mob's movements as they all chased him down.

She laughed as she thought of what he could've done to piss them off.

(Knowing him he probably deserved it)

* * *

Maybe it was some cruel **Twist of Fate**.

But as their eyes were glued to their targets, neither the #1 or the #3 noticed or acknowledged the existence of the other as they passed one another.

Something that wouldn't happen again.

* * *

**Part 6**

"HAHAHAHA! So you're saying the mob chased you because your classmate turned them on you!"

Touma tried to catch his breath as he sat on the bench nearest the Arcade that he had just fled from. He had taken off his jacket as he ran so he wouldn't overheat, so he was holding it in his hand as he ran.

While the angry mob chased him down for a good 20 minutes he managed to lose them when Mikoto changed a crosswalk to continually be green once Touma had passed.

After that, he hid out at a local supermarket until things died down.

"Yes…."

Haruue gasped, "T-That's so cruel. Why would your friends do that to you?"

Touma shrugged, "That's just how boys are I guess, heh now that I think about it, it was actually kinda funny. Though I still have no idea why they got so mad at me over some dumb game?"

Index sighed, "You probably said something rude to them like you always do Touma."

"EH! What're you talking about Index? When have I ever been rude?"

Right as Index was going to list out all the times she thought Touma was being rude Kuroko appeared out of seemingly nowhere along with Uiharu.

(Teleportation must be convenient.)

"Onee-sama, I have finally returned you wouldn't believe the last minute assignment they gave us apparently there was a…..What is he doing here?"

"Sup."

Kuroko narrowed her eyes at the boy, "Somehow I know you're involved but I'll overlook it this time if you take Index with you wherever you go when we're not around."

"Huh? Are you blackmailing me!?"

Kuroko proceeded to take out her handcuffs.

"Okay, Okay, Okay, I get it, Geez come on Index. There a couple of things I need to take care of before I head off to the **Fireworks Festival**. It was nice meeting you Haruue-san."

"Bye."

"Hey, why don't we all go to the Fireworks Festival?"

Haruue's eyes lit up.

Mikoto rubbed the back of her head, "I don't-"

The looks she was getting from all of her friends told her that she was the only one opposed.

"Alright fine."

* * *

**Accelerator's Hospital Room**

On his way, to his room, Yuki made sure to stop by a game store to pick up a copy of the arcade game he'd just played along with a handheld console. He was practicing on his bed when he heard the door open.

"H-Hey Yuki."

Not even bothering to look up from the screen, he said, "So you actually survived, huh? Don't get blood on the floor."

Touma chuckled, "Y-Yeah that was kinda funny, say Yuki today there gonna have a Fireworks show and I was wondering-"

"I'm not going."

"S-So you're gonna stay here in your room no matter what?"

"That's the plan."

Touma sighed in relief, "Okay well that makes things easier, see ya!"

Touma dropped something on the floor that resembled a duffle bag and ran out the door.

Accelerator wasn't worried, even if he was stupid enough to put a bomb or any type of weapon he could survive a nuclear blast point-blank.

There was nothing he could too-

"Hi Yuki"

Accelerator paused the game and looked up.

There she stood, Index with what looked like a hamburger half-eaten in her hands.

"Oh, hell no!"

He quickly opened the duffle bag and quickly realized that the contents were Tupperware full of food and other necessities needed to care for Index.

The bag was arranged like a mother who left her child at daycare.

He ran to the door but realized he was too late,

Kamijou Touma had left the building.

Index tapped him on the shoulder, "I'm hungry."

"Goddamnit"

* * *

**Garden of Learning Entrance**

Touma felt bad for ditching Index with Yuki, but he couldn't just take her with him on his date. That would be a total mood killer.

Touma sighed as he paced back and forth. As per Misaki's request, he put on his new leather jacket but somehow he felt different.

On the way here, people gave him the strangest of looks especially girls. He was under the assumption that they all thought he looked lame.

(Maybe that's why they were chasing me.)

This was the first time he was actually going on a real date with Misaki after the whole Index incident and he wanted it to be special.

He then felt a tap on his shoulder and saw her.

She wore a red silk yukata that fit her perfectly and was embroidered with roses from head to toe.

The obi tied at her waist was a bright blue that popped as the red of the Yukkata emphasized the color scheme and from the way it was tied around her slender body, it emphasized her already profound chest giving them an even more profound presence than before.

What made it more stunning was the fact that it had a small yellow star on it that complimented the outfit perfectly. Her hair that once flowed lusciously down was now tamed in a bun with what looked to be chopsticks.

"Wow, Misaki you look beautiful."

Misaki blushed, "Thank you, I see you're wearing your new jacket."

"Ohh, yeah ...wait a minute you're wearing those?"

Touma noticed Misaki's footwear of choice. It was a pair of wooden sandals that elevated her feet a bit off the ground. While it went well with her outfit it would be a pain to walk in them.

Misaki smiled, "Yes and I know what you're gonna say. Your worrying ability is as charming as ever. I'm planning on having a car pick up us from here and drive there."

Touma's shoulder jumped slightly as she leaned on him.

As they continued to wait for the car to arrive they enjoyed this moment.

* * *

**Part 7**

**Fireworks Festival**

As the pair made their way to the festival grounds they both received looks from the opposite sex.

Some were that of admiration while others were that of jealousy, whatever they were they didn't pay them any mind as they enjoyed the time they had together.

After a few hours of wandering the grounds, Touma had successfully won quite a few games and gotten a couple of prizes along the way, the only problem was how to carry them.

Misaki was out of the question since she was already in enough stress having to walk in those sandals so Touma did the next best thing and started handing out his prizes to the kids of the festival who couldn't win.

Misaki was fine since she had first picked out what she wanted and already moved passed the stage of wanting to play with stuffed animals.

"Hey, Misaki I was wondering where are you keeping your remotes? You didn't bring your bag so did you put it in your obi?"

Misaki grinned, "Of course not, if I did that it would be a hassle to tie it back together. Care to take another guess?"

"Hmmm?"

(If it's not there I got no clue where it could be.)

Touma scanned her body as if he was playing Where's Waldo but couldn't find any clues.

"I don't know, I give up."

Misaki continued to grin as she placed her hand on her profound chest, "Come now my Prince if you guess right I'll let you take it out."

Touma's heart almost stopped as he realized where it was.

"B-But-"

She placed her fingers on her mouth as she shushed him, "I see your problem-solving ability led you to the right answer." She then grabbed his hand and began to move it closer to her chest, "Now why don't you claim your prize."

Touma's heart went on overdrive as he was about to earn one of life's greatest achievements

(Be still my foolish heart)

Right as he was about to make contact he heard,

"OI JACKASS!"

(GODDAMMMMMNIT!)

* * *

**Hours Earlier**

"Hey Yuki, can I have another snack? And you lost again by the way."

Accelerator was at his limit. At first, he tried locking her out of his room but the doctor kept letting her back in.

Then he tried to ignore her but her incisive whining made it impossible so he resorted to using his esper ability to block out all soundwaves to basically mute her.

This worked for a while until he felt it.

Through some unknown means, her whining transcended Vectors itself and annoyed his very soul.

At some point during the 2-hour mark, he had given her the bag that Touma had left behind and she began eating while using his phone to watch videos online.

At first, it worked out perfectly he played on his handheld console while she watched videos and ate food. Good arrangement, right?

And it would've worked out perfectly if, Touma had packed her enough food to last her entire stay.

Right around the end of the 3-hour mark she ran out and began whining again.

At that same time, his phone battery died from her non-stop streaming of videos. So to stop her whining he decided to play cards against her one more time to get her to shut her up.

If he won even once she would have to keep quiet for her entire stay here, but if she won he would have to buy her something from the vending machine.

One hour later and the entire vending machine had been all but cleared out and her whining kept on coming.

"That's it, I can't take this anymore I'm taking you back to that idiot's place!"

"But I don't live there and Ruiko left already with Mikoto."

"Do you know where that idiot went off to?"

"Hmm... let me try and remember" Said the girl with the perfect memory.

Accelerator gave in and tossed her the last of the vending machine snacks he had bought.

"Touma said he was going to the Fireworks Festival but he didn't want to take me, can you believe it!? What, was I cramping his style or something?"

"Yeah, I can. Now get up Nun we're going to the festival"

Index let out a shriek of joy, "Hooray! I knew you'd see the light! Thank you, Lord, who-"

This was gonna be a long night.

Once the two made their way to the Festival grounds it was a challenge in and of itself to keep tabs on Index as she roamed stall to stall in order to find something to eat.

"Oi Nun! Get back here!"

(Tch! What a piece of work. Who does he think he is dropping this on me!? I would've preferred it if he had actually dropped off a bomb instead.)

"Yuki look! They have one of those games where you can scoop the fish!"

Index pointed to the tank as the owner handed her a scooper.

**Goldfish scooping** was a traditional Japanese festival stall. The objective of the game was simple, scoop up the fish with the small paper scooper (Poi) they provided. What made the game truly challenging was the fact that the paper scoopers were shoddy at best and would tear easily when in the water. To make up for this fact you have unlimited chances to scoop until your scooper broke.

If you were fortunate enough to catch one of these fish the prize was you could exchange them for a prize of equal value or you could take your fishy friend home with you.

"Yuki can you get me one!?"

"No! I'm not gonna waste my time trying to catch some stupid fish! The only reason I came here in the first place was to find that idiot and make you his problem."

Index ignored his comments and started playing the game herself, "Pfff. You're probably just scared that you'd lose all your money and still not be able to win…...Oh look I caught one! No…..it got away."

Must to his protest he watched as Index skimmed the top of the pool that held the fish with her Scooper and tried to catch them.

This went on for some time as she neither broke her scooper or caught a fish. At some point, the stall owner offered to just give her one. But she refused.

"Oi Nun, why don't you just take the fish the guy's offering?"

"Touma says food tastes better when you make it yourself so I'm guessing that food would taste delicious if you caught it yourself too."

"...Wait, a second ...You're playing this game with the goal in mind to eat them."

Index nodded.

No wonder the nautical wildlife were so quick to dodge her. Their animal instincts could sense her predatorial aura as it oozed out.

At some point, Accelerator got tired of waiting and yanked the scooper out of her hand and caught the fish himself.

Using his Vector Transformation he could make the force that touched the scooper nonexistent and caught about 10 in one go.

Index's eyes sparkled, "Wow Yuki you caught so many!"

Right as Index was about to reach for them he handed it to the owner who counted all the fish up. Apparently, there were some **medaka** (Japanese Rice Fish) mixed in too which were worth 4 times as a goldfish.

"Yuki! I wanted that!"

"Tch!" He shoved the meal ticket he won as a prize to Index,

This wasn't out of altruism mind you, he just didn't want the hassle of dealing with the Marine wildlife association hounding him over letting a girl eat goldfish. Plus it got her to shut up.

As they finally continued on their journey to find the idiot they finally found him.

His back was towards him and he was wearing that leather jacket again.

"OI JACKASS!"

The Spiky haired teen spun around to see who had called him.

"Y-Yuki? W-Why!?"

"You must be out of your damn mind if- Oi, get the hell off me...are you crying?"

The boy muttered something incomprehensible as he shook him repeatedly.

"WHY! WHY NOW! OUT OF ALL THE TIMES, YOU CHOOSE TO FIND MEEEEEE! WHHHHHHY NOOOOOOOOOW! SUUUUUUUUCH MISFOOOOOOTUUUNE!"

* * *

**Part 8**

**Fireworks Festival**

As it started to get dark out Mikoto and Kuroko finally made it to the festival grounds and walked towards her group of friends. Due to their dorm supervisor's strict schedule, they had to sneak out of there dorm to attend.

They both wore the Yukata's they had bought for this very occasion. Mikoto wore a bright orange and yellow Yukata that was held in place with a bright red and green obi. While Kuroko wore a lavish lavender Yukata and had a dark red and blue obi that had a checkerboard design.

"Wow! Misaka-san you look amazing."

"You look cute too Shirai."

Shirai huffed, "Of course we do."

Mikoto simply complimented all of her friend's appearances and proceeded to follow Saten as she made her way to the Festival Grounds.

Stalls lined the street as far as she could see and lit up the ominous park to the point it looked like a carnival.

They all enjoyed the festivities with Mikoto even buying a Gekota Mask from one of the Stalls.

Kuroko gently shook her head, "Oh for goodness sake Onee-sama,"

Mikoto proudly wore her new mask and said, "Where's the harm? It's a festival, after all, I'm just getting into the swing of it."

"Ugh, good grief."

Before Mikoto could say another word she felt someone grab her from behind,

"I got you!"

Mikoto hurriedly turned around and saw A twin-ponytailed girl who was slightly shorter than her who had blonde hair.

The little girl had a bright red kiddy backpack and was carrying some weird device that was producing light. It looked like one of those handheld EMF detectors except it had a shiny chrome finish.

"N-Nayuta?"

The little girl jumped back, "Railgun Onee-san!? What're you doing wearing that ridiculous mask?"

"EH! Who are you to call Gekota ridiculous!?"

"Onee-sama, you know your tastes are childish when an actual child calls you out on it."

"S-Shut up, what're you doing here Nayuta? And what's that you're holding?"

Nayuta sighed in defeat, "This is a prototype AIM Sensor, I got it from an HsB-02 (supersonic stealth bombers)

Kuroko leaned in towards the little girl, "And how may I ask did you acquire it?"

She rubbed her head, "Now don't misunderstand me Judgement Onee-san, I'm no common criminal, I'm a member of Judgement to remember. I got this from Kumokawa-senpai."

Mikoto shifted her mask to reveal her face, "Okay so what do you need that Sensor for? Isn't your esper ability to see AIM Fields naturally."

Nayuta wiggled her finger back and forth, "You're right there but as it seems my powers are too good."

"?"

"Let me explain, I can see all AIM Fields no matter if they are weak or strong but what makes it worse is that I can't selectively choose what I want to look for. At least not yet anyway, that's what this is for, it's a prototype of my power but it's a weaker variant. The reason it's only a prototype is that it can only detect very powerful AIM Fields, like those of a Level 5."

Mikoto raised her eyebrows, "So which one were you looking for? Please don't tell me you're actually gonna try to fight the #1 or #2, I'd hate to see you become a smear on the pavement.

Nayuta waved her accusation off, "Of course not Railgun Onee-san after my near-death experience with you I learned not to bite off more than I could chew before I'm ready."

Haruue turned to Uiharu, "N-Near death experience?"

"I'm looking for a specific Level 5, though the sensor must be broken because it's saying there's 4 Level 5's here already but two of them keep disappearing and reappearing. It's getting kinda annoying running back and forth."

"Hmm… I know Shokuhou's here but I have no clue on who the other 2 are."

Nayuta sighed, "Well, bye Railgun Onee-san I hope you have a good time." She then turned to Kuroko. "Oh, and do you know who took my parfait from my lunch box the last time I went to your office?"

"Ugh! Not this again. I'm telling you there was no one there."

"Hmph! Fine be mean Judgement Onee-san! When I'm done finding who I'm looking for I'll figure out who took it myself. I won't rest until I track this criminal down myself! I stake my pride as a Judgement Officer on that"

Kuroko sighed as she shook her head as she watched Nayuta march off,

"That girl never does quit making trouble, does she? Uiharu why do you look so pale"

"***Cough***...No reason."

Saten then watched as Nayuta passed in between Trucks that were labeled M.A.R.

"What' M.A.R?"

Kuroko sighed, "Multi-Active Rescue, I'm guessing they're here to act as a countermeasure because of all of the recent Poltergiesting."

"So the rumors are real!"

Mikoto chuckled, "Yeah the end is nigh."

"Not you too Onee-sama…...Regardless, them being here does put a damper on the mood"

Saten then pointed to a hillside nearby, "If that's the case I know the perfect viewing spot."

* * *

This was how Touma's day was going. Once he calmed down and stopped shaking Yuki he met back up with Shokuhou who was speaking with Index.

Misaki looked at Touma with concern, "Touma did you leave Index with…..him?"

Touma rubbed the back of his head, "Y-Yeah but-"

She narrowed her eyes at him, "Don't leave her behind with people who….just don't leave her with anybody except those of us who already know of Index, okay."

While this discussion was unfolding Accelerator decided to head back to his room.

He got about 20 meters away before he felt someone grab his shoulder.

"Yuki, wait, can you please watch Index for the rest of the night. Please!"

"Screw off! And didn't the witch already say that she didn't want me to!?"

"Yeah, but surprisingly I made a good case and won!"

**+70% in [Charisma]**

Who said Charisma was a dump stat?

"Good for you, now screw off!"

"Please, I'll do anything!"

"Anything?"

"Yes!"

"Die then"

"Okay!"

"EHHHH!?"

"I can die a happy death if you watch Index today! Please! Mikoto said she wasn't coming here today and it'd take me too long to run Index back to Saten's house. And by the time I make it back, curfew would be just around the corner and-"

His ramblings went on for some time. He made some good points.

"So please!"

"***Sigh*** …."

"Is that a good 'sigh' or a bad one?"

"It's an 'I don't know if I should snap your neck' kind of one"

"Whoa, there Yuki, you're getting awfully close to hurting Mr. Kamijou's feelings over here."

"Screw your feelings! You pissed me the hell off!"

"I-I'm sorry! C-Come on, have a heart man!"

Accelerator was at an impasse, he would either have to deal with his whining or the Nun's.

Touma looked around the festival grounds to find anything that might help him sway Accelerator's decision. That's when his eyes found it.

**Shateki **(Gun-shooting) Stall, the name itself is pretty self-explanatory.

"Hey, what if we play for it?"

"Hmm? What the hell are spouting out now?"

"The Shateki Stall, if I beat you in it you have to take Index if you win I'll take Index off your hands and I won't say another word about it."

"Ugh. You really are desperate, aren't you?"

"Is it a deal?"

* * *

"So Index how was Accel...I mean Yuki treating you?"

Misaki wanted to know if she had been mistreated in any way, if she had been she would've told Touma.

Index tilted her head as she grabbed her bag of cotton candy, "Hmmm...Good I guess, his room was pretty boring though, Touma left me there with nothing to do. Yuki let me borrow his phone to watch movies on it and even played cards with me ...though he wasn't that good at it."

"Mh-mm, T-That's good, if he does anything that you don't like just be sure to tell me or Touma about it, Okay."

Index nodded as she began to stuff her face.

"So I see you have a new purse, what's that design on the cover?"

"***Munch*** The cross of the Anglican Church, Ruiko sewed it on for me."

"That was nice of her. I wonder what's taking them so long, he ran after him-"

"I got you now!"

Misaki hurriedly turned around and saw a twin-ponytailed girl who was slightly shorter than her and had blonde hair.

She immediately pulled out her remote and pointed it at the girl who jumped back in retreat and was about to press a button until Index spoke.

"Nayuta, what are you doing here?"

Misaki turned to Index and asked, "Do you know her?"

"Mh-hmm. I met her along with Mikoto, what brings you here? Do you want some cotton candy?"

Nayuta sighed, "Another failed run…Hi, Index are you still wearing the same habit from when we met?"

Index nodded as she handed Nayuta the bag, "Yeah but I wash it every day so it's always clean."

Misaki narrowed her eyes at the girl, "You still haven't answered the first question, what're you doing here?"

Nayuta shyly rubbed the back of her head, "S-Sorry for disturbing you Starry-eyed Onee-san, Railgun Onee-san said you might be here too so-"

"Mikoto's here! Where!?"

"They were over there when I last saw them but I think they left already."

Misaki sighed, "That makes things incredibly more complicated."

"Well, bye Index I'm gonna continue my search. Bye, sorry for bothering you two."

"Bye Nayuta!"

Misaki then tapped Index on her shoulder, "Index what's that?"

"Hmmm? What's what Misaki?"

"Oh, you must have missed it."

The moment Index was distracted she pulled out her remote and pointed it at Nayuta.

Nayuta stood stock-still for a moment with stars in her eyes.

After a few seconds, she snapped back to reality, "Oh, I guess I should go home for now. It is getting late."

(Sorry can't have you running into him, you'll thank me later)

* * *

**Shateki Stall**

Touma had just gotten a prize that was worth 80 points(Gekota Make-up pouch) on his first shot and now it was Yuki's turn.

Normally one would have to carefully aim the toy rifle the Stall provided you to hit your target, but this wasn't the case for Accelerator.

No, for you see it wouldn't have mattered if the target was 1-meter away or 100, with his Vector transformation he could hit the bull's eye for the **100-point** prize (A new Game Console)

The moment Yuki took aim he smirked, there was no way that he could lose in this game, not when he had his powers.

The moment he pulled the trigger he felt Touma's hand on his shoulder

***Shatter!***

He completely missed it.

"No cheating, and I win. Have fun taking care of Index Yuki you're a real-"

"What the hell was that!?"

"Hmm?" Touma simply pointed to the sign on the both that read,

_**No esper abilities allowed**_

"You knew the whole time, didn't you?"

"Yep,"

"I hate you."

* * *

Touma smiled as he proudly walked back to the girls, "Good news, Yuki said he'll take care of Index for the rest of the night so why don't we-"

"But Touma! I wanna stay with you guys!"

'B-But Index wouldn't you rather go with Yuki I'm sure he'd-"

Misaki held onto Touma's shoulder, "Come now my Prince, surely you wouldn't deny Index of this."

"B-But-"

He could hear Accelerator laugh in the background, "Yeah, of course, he wouldn't, right?"

"But-But ...fine."

Index cheered, "Hooray! Oh, Touma by the way Mikoto's here too! We met Nayuta while we were waiting for you."

Touma grabbed his head, "They were here the whole time…...such misfortune."

"Well, I'm outta here." Yuki began to walk away until he felt someone grab his shoulder.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"Back to my room"

"***Sigh*** Fine I can't stop you but at least stay for the Fireworks they should be starting any minute now."

Index nodded, "Yeah Yuki! It'll be fun."

"Fine, but after that, I'm going back crowds like this are a drag."

"Great I know a great spot to see the fireworks, it's by the hillside." Touma then began leading the group towards his spot.

* * *

**Top of the Hillside**

As Mikoto and her group held onto the railing of the edge of the paved ledge, they saw as the Fireworks began to shoot off.

***BOOM**BOOM**BOOM**BOOM**BOOM***

Beautiful fireworks filled the night sky with an assortment of rich and colorful lights.

Haruue flinched the moment the first firework went off.

Uiharu comforted her new roommate by patting her on the back, "You can feel the *boom* echoing in your tummy, huh?"

Haruue smiled, "Mh-hmm, it goes, *boom* alright. They're so pretty."

* * *

**Bottom of the Hillside**

Touma and his group were just about to climb the hillside to reach the paved ledge Touma was talking about.

"Touma, we're gonna miss the fireworks can we just watch them here?"

"Index we're almost there can't you just-"

Misaki then clung onto Touma's shoulders, "I must agree with her My Prince my I don't think my walking ability can make it up all those stairs especially in these shoes."

"Alright fine, let's just watch from here."

***BOOM**BOOM**BOOM**BOOM**BOOM**BOOM***

Beautiful fireworks filled the night sky with an assortment of rich and colorful lights.

"Wow! They're so pretty, hey Touma how long are they gonna keep shooting them for?"

"Hmm? For about 10 minutes if I remember, but if you think this is impressive wait until you see the Daihasei Festival."

Misaki nodded, "The fireworks cover the entire night sky, I can't wait for that day"

Accelerator simply rolled his eyes.

The Daihasei Festival wasn't anything new to him. He's been in Academy City his whole life. To him, that was just another day.

Index turned to Yuki.

"Doesn't it look perfect Yuki?"

Accelerator rolled his eyes at her question. "Hate to break the news to you Nun, but nothings perfect in this damn world."

Misaki scowled at him and was about to say something until Touma spoke up.

"He's right."

"!?"

Index then felt a pat on her shoulder by Touma, "Index, let me tell you this now, nothings perfect in this world, but that doesn't make it bad, the fact that the world still has things that can make us smile is what makes it beautiful, right?"

Index smiled along with Misaki.

(Tch!)

Accelerator continued towards the path of the stairs that led up to the paved ledge.

"Where're you going Yuki?"

"Back to my room."

* * *

**Part 9**

As the girls continued chanting *Tamaya* *Kagiya*at the fireworks Haruue softly smiled.

"What's the matter Haruue?"

Haruue shyly looked down, "I-I was just remembering."

"What?"

"I-I had a friend. She was like you two, Miss Uiharu and Saten, she-" haruue slowly started to look more downtrodden thing about it.

"What's wrong?"

Uiharu and Saten followed Haruue as she walked off into the park.

Mikoto turned to watch them all begin to walk away and said, "Huh, where are they going?"

Sadly for her Kuroko took this as a welcoming call and started to embrace Mikoto's arm.

"I'm sure they took the hint Onee-sama! They're allowing the two of us to be alone, we mustn't squander this opportunity that we've been so graciously given."

"K-Kuroko get off! It's way too hot and muggy outside for this! Hey, your cellphones ringing go pick it up and stop it."

Kuroko pouted as she went into her obi to pick up her phone she read the caller ID and it said,

**Konori-Senpai**

"***Sigh*** A Judgment officer's work never is finished, is it? Hello"

Mikoto stretched out her now free arms as she watched Kuroko continue to talk on the phone.

Eventually, Kuroko's face became serious, "AIM Diffusion Fields?"

"Kuroko, what're you-"

"You're saying that someone is intentionally causing them!?"

***RUMBLE**RUMBLE**RUMBLE**RUMBLE**RUMBLE**RUMBLE**RUMBLE***

Before either of them could say another word, the ground itself began rumbling as though an earthquake was occurring.

The once solid paved ledge crumbled under the sheer force of the quake. And a large section began to fall to the ground below.

Right as Mikoto was about to fall with it Kuroko grabbed her and teleported the both of them to safety.

* * *

As Accelerator began to ascend the stairs he noticed a small group of students directly under the Paved ledge.

It seemed as though they had a similar idea as to what their group had originally. But found the climb up difficult as they all wore similar outfits that #5 had.

They seemed to be enjoying themselves even while on the ground.

Just as he was about to continue climbing the stairs he felt it.

***RUMBLE**RUMBLE**RUMBLE**RUMBLE**RUMBLE**RUMBLE**RUMBLE***

* * *

Index tugged on Touma's arm, "Touma! You can't just let Yuki leave now he's gonna miss the Fireworks!"

"What do you want me to do? If he wants to go back he wants to back."

Ironically this from the boy who begged him to stay earlier, though he had lost his motivation in making him stay.

If he wanted to leave that was his decision.

Shokuhou nodded, "You can't force these things Index."

She was actually relieved that he was leaving so she wasn't about to protest to get him to come back.

"But-"

"Come on Index just enjoy the Fireworks, we can hang out with Yuki tomorrow."

"Touma I actually wanted to talk to you about-"

As the two began talking Index took one more look at Yuki as he was about to climb the stairs. She could tell he was looking at something and followed his eyes to a group of students who were on the ground watching the Fireworks.

She felt bad that he wouldn't get to enjoy it them with, but before she could do anything about it she felt it.

***RUMBLE**RUMBLE**RUMBLE**RUMBLE**RUMBLE**RUMBLE**RUMBLE***

She saw the paved ledge as it began to plummet to the ground.

Before she could say a word she felt as someone grabbed her as yanked her away.

***DING***

Dust filled the air as Index began to open her eyes.

"Are you guys okay!?"

The moment the ground began to shake Touma had grabbed both Shokuhou and Index and pulled them to safety.

"I-I think so, thanks to you my Prince."

Panic began to set in for Index as she remembered who she had seen.

"Touma! There were people under the ledge! We have to help them."

Without another word, Touma rushed over to the epicenter of the accident.

The dust still obstructed his perception as he continued forward.

Touma feared for the worst if someone really was under that ledge when it fell they would most likely be…

"Is anyone here!"

The dust began to settle and he could make out what resembled a person. Without wasting another second he ran towards them.

"Hey, are you okay!?"

"Tch! Figures you'd show up."

"Yuki!?"

Touma then saw the group of students he was currently surrounded by. They all seemed okay for the most part. They were covered in dirt but health-wise they were all perfect.

"Y-You saved them!"

"Tch! I just happened to be under that ledge as it fell down. It was self-preservation, these idiots were just lucky to be around me when it did."

The two of them then saw Index as she rushed over.

"Yuki you saved them!"

Accelerator rolled his eyes as he began walking the other way since the stairs weren't in any condition to be used he decided to take the scenic route back to his room.

Shokuhou finally managed to catch up with the two of them. (Those shoes weren't doing her any favors)

"***Pant*** What happened!?"

"Yuki was under the ledge as it fell down and saved these guys."

"!?"

"Nu-uh! Yuki was climbing up the stairs when I saw him."

Misaki turned to Index and said, "I-Index are you sure?"

"I never forget something, I saw him, he saved those people on purpose."

Touma began to chuckle, "Geez how modest, how shy do you actually have to be to lie about saving somebody…..Misaki are you okay?"

"...I'm fine. I'm just glad everyone made it out okay."

* * *

**Epilogue**

Once Kuroko teleported the two of them to safety they began searching the entire grounds for there other friends.

Eventually, they found them, Saten was on her knees as she looked at something.

"Saten are you alright!?"

Mikoto then saw what she was looking at.

A hot pink camoed Power Suit was holding onto a Lamppost to prevent it from falling on Uiharu and Haruue.

The pilot operating the suit began to speak, "That was a close one. Are you okay? Don't worry you're safe now."

The tinted visor began to become clear and revealed that the pilot was a woman with wavy orange hair which was tied into a ponytail.

Kuroko immediately knew who it was once she saw her.

She was the very same woman who spoke at the Joint Conference earlier that day.

**Therestina Lifeline**


	25. Chapter 25 It's Hunting Time

**Hey, thanks for reading a Certain Scientific Counter! Sorry, it took so long I was too busy reading NTR 22. Also, did you guys all see the A Certain Scientific Accelerator!? And can you guys believe it this story actually has over 200 follows!? I can't believe it, thanks for reading and leaving your reviews it really helps me out with coming up with new ideas. Also if this chapter is any indicator it shows that I love JoJo's. Have you seen the ending to part 5 yet!?:)**

**Once again everyone and I'd like to thank my Beta-Reader Graeskog for helping me edit this. **

**Now for Q&A**

**D. N Works- Thank you for the compliment it means a lot and some things will change going forward since there are variables.**

**Aminadab Brulle- Yeah you're right there and more Friendship moment with the cast is always good to see. And Index has transcended the realms of Vectors.**

**Sirius962- Thank you and I'm glad you enjoyed it. And nice idea people always parents always want what's best for their child but even so that won't stop them from having reservations about others.**

**BlueJack22- Thank you and yeah he upgraded his reflection to block Touma's chances.**

**Fortitude501- Yeah that way he could at least end it in a second and not be stuck hearing Index. And yeah in cannon they all already knew the Sisters Project was going on.**

**Dragonrails- Draw 4 my friend! Nope Reverse! Nope Reverse! Nope reverse! Nope re-! I swear to god if you play that card I'm gonna! ...Reverse. RAAAAGH! And a good idea.**

**Rajarshi Sarkar- I wouldn't worry about that. And nah Touma would totally do something like leave Index with a close friend in the Light Novel he actually tied up Index and locked her in his room so she wouldn't follow him on a dangerous mission. What made the situation even worse was he forgot he left her there. And that would sound like something that she would do but Touma wouldn't have approved since he just wants a regular life. And a nice nightmare sequence. I can see her thought process now.**

**tsun - Read to find out.:)**

**nameless- Thank you I try to make his suffering as enjoyable as possible. And there is a bigger problem out there and she will stand by his side. And that day will one day come but not until all the secrets are revealed.**

**nameless- Ha yeah he was like you left me with this and now you're left without reaching that achievement! And I like your ideas.**

**Chris- Hooray big Review. Yeah any excuse to shock him is good enough for her! She gotta get that score back up so far she hasn't won once. And I like your idea but I already have the power all written out I even wrote a couple of paragraphs of back story on it. It even has its own name. Touma + Jacket equals overpowered with the ladies. Earthquake misfortune and missing children all on an average day in Academy City. Kuroko does not like to have her private time with Mikoto messed with by Index. And yeah she wants to level up their relationship but his gentlemanly mentality stops him from reaching it without a push. Yeah, the odds I'm pretty sure something like that could happen. And yeah Misaki is the type who likes to play house plus she likes Index. And it's not easy adjusting to a new lifestyle. And yeah Touma is the last person who should be saying that. Thank you for the review.**

**Lone Sheep- Thank you for the compliment! I try my best and since this is a filler arc I can add as much humor as I want until the plot kicks in.**

**Lone Sheep- If you're wondering the Timeline I'm using it's the un-official with all of the side stories included.**

**Guest- Don't worry this to shall pass besides I want to do something in this Arc. And they're coming back pretty soon. And yes I saw it... SHADOW IS LIIIIIIIIGGGHHT!**

**Yakutsu Zaishiro- Yep Aogami is an agent of chaos. 2. You bet it is but she's worth it. 3 Your right, when will they finally go on a date that's not ruined!? Also your right on that she would look stunning in one.**

**Nguyen Thanh Long- You'll see soon enough...just read the chapter and you'll see...what're you waiting for it's right there...just scroll down...Okay at this point you're just reading this for the sake of reading this...Thank you for the comment.**

**Savior555- Chapter review 22- Thank you for the review it's always good to see people's thoughts on the chapter so thank you for writing it I appreciate it. Yep, I can't wait for Last Order to join them too! And the Jacket is all-powerful! And yeah Yumi will always be there when you least expect her to be. It took me forever to figure out how to make the emoji thing but I'm glad it was worth it. And Misakas has gained resolution.**

**Savior555- Chapter 23- Yep just an average day for your misfortunate highschooler. Double 0 Touma reporting for duty! And yeah the dorm manager regularly scares Level 5s she's obviously not normal. Hope is a beautiful thing that's why one shouldn't let it get away from them. Cue the training montage! There the 3 best friends that...The final boss and they developed a healthier relationship. And they do have some work to do.**

**Savior555- Actually CounterStrike is just the name of an attack his left hand has a proper name and that's ***** ********. Don't worry we'll find out when the times right. And yeah Touma is the kind of person anyone could get along with he's nice and doesn't hold any grudges he's a chill dude. New Arc! And yeah Index is a bit naive but that's part of her charm. Jacket power! The boys sensed that they had no chance so they all decided to get him! It's the ultimate double-edged weapon. Is it worth it!? You decide. Twist of Fate! Hey, Yuki watch this kid for me bye! Touma was so close... and yet so far. He kind of deserved it for dropping the Index bomb on him. And Yuki is a good guardian... what are you doing here? And you'll see, soon enough. Nayuta will remember that...And yeah Miskai read Nayuta's mind. And Yuki and Touma have very differing ideologies on life since neither of them walked on the same path as one another before yeah in cannon she already knew about the sister's project but I'm iffy on if she knew about the Level 6 shift I'll double-check to be sure. Thank you for the review it really means a lot.**

* * *

**It's Hunting Time**

**Part 1**

As the fireworks kept lighting up the night sky the girls watched as hot pink camoed Power Suit took control of the situation at hand by issuing orders via a comm system installed in the suit.

Haruue was knocked unconscious for some reason that they weren't too sure about and was subsequently taken to an ambulance that was called to the scene.

In just a few minutes the fireworks festival came to an end with M.A.R deeming it unsafe and asking all the attendees to vacate the premises.

Mikoto and Kuroko, however, stayed behind and watched as the woman name Therestina Lifeline made a phone call.

"Yes, no one was injured, luckily. More importantly, we need to make an official statement to keep panic from spreading."

This was a standard procedure. If word spread that earthquakes were spontaneously appearing all over the city panic would ensue.

"Of course this was not an earthquake..."

"It was poltergeisting."

Therestina spun around and saw a pigtailed brunette who wore a lavish lavender Yukata and had a dark red and blue obi that had a checkerboard design, she was accompanied by a girl slightly older than the other who wore a bright orange and yellow Yukata that was held in place with a bright red and green obi.

"Yes, it was poltergeisting" Therestina quickly ended her call and turned to face the two.

They both gave a slight bow to her and thanked her for saving her friends.

"It was nothing I'm just glad nobody was hurt from what I hear we had a few close calls tonight."

Kuroko turned to see men wearing M.A.R uniforms scanning the area with technology, "Are they by chance measuring the AIM diffusion fields around this area? Is M.A.R able to detect abnormalities in the field before an event occurs?"

Kuroko quickly realized what she was implying if M.A.R was truly able to detect then they would have known that this would've happened and let the event go on anyways.

"Could you tell me your name?"

"Shirai, Judgement Branch 177"

Therestina nodded, "That explains it, Branch177 sure does have some talented officers. Imagine you already made the connection between RPSK and Diffusion fields."

During the Joint conference that was held earlier that day, they discussed the cause of the recent poltergeistings and what caused it.

**RSPK Syndrome** is a term used to refer to a condition that affects the esper, wherein an esper loses control over themselves, causing a subconscious and uncontrollable outburst of power. This usually manifests itself in the form of moving small objects.

Kuroko nodded, "The RSPK is being caused by someone artificially by them tampering with the AIM diffusion fields. The synchronized incidents are causing recent poltergeistings." Kuroko looked at her with concern, "If you had mentioned this at the joint conference, as Judgment I could have helped to identify suspicious individuals."

Therestina crossed her arms, "That's under Anti-Skill jurisdiction. As I said in the conference, I only wanted Judgement to quell the rumors to keep panic from spreading among the general public."

"Tampering with AIM fields ...could there be someone capable of doing that?"

The pair turned to see Mikoto in deep thought.

Academy City was full of Espers with all sorts of outlandish abilities. From what Mikoto heard there was even one that could manipulate Vectors.

But was there someone who could do that.

(Wait a minute ...Nayuta was looking for a Level 5 could that be the culprit!?)

"Wait, I think-"

Before Mikoto could finish her sentence she was called over by Saten.

It would seem that they were going to go with Haruue to the hospital for moral support.

Mikoto wanted to tag along but Kuroko reminded her of their curfew.

They all said their goodbyes though Therestina had a look on her face as though she was curious as to what Mikoto was going to say.

* * *

**Tokiwadai Dorms**

"Thank goodness we got back before the Head Resident realized we were gone Onee-sama, I even heard back from Saten and Haruue's condition has stabilized and they're now back at her Dorm."

Kuroko turned to see Mikoto's response but saw she was typing away at her computer.

This was her chance to pounce.

"Onee-sama! What has you so absorbed that you'd ignore me?... Level Upper incidents? Why are you reading this now?"

"I'm curious, something about this and the Level Upper incidents remind me of something...AIM diffusion fields, that was how they pulled off the last crime right? So, isn't it suspicious that someone is doing the same thing again?"

What she was referring to was Kiyam Harumi, it wasn't just a few days ago that she used AIM diffusion fields to send students into a coma to help her free her students from a coma.

Kuroko continued to snuggle against Mikoto much to her protest. "Onee-sama you don't have to worry, Kiyam Harumi is in custody in a special detention center. There's no way she'd be able to escape there, and even if she did I would have heard about it by now."

"Okay but what about Nayuta?"

Kuroko tilted her head, "What about her?"

"She mentioned something about tracking down another Level 5, what if they're the ones responsible?"

Kuroko shuddered at the thought.

Level 5's were regarded as living superpowers. If one of them truly was behind the incidents then the odds of Judgement and herself being able to handle it was a pipe dream.

"I hope not but even if that was the case-," Kuroko began to squeeze Mikoto tighter, "I know my Onee-sama will protect me!"

"Kuroko!"

"Though I am glad you brought that up ...personally I was starting to question if Haruue was the culprit, did you see the way she reacted just before the incident occurred?"

"Let go! And besides, there's no way a sweet girl like her could be the culprit, she even hit the moles in Whack a Mole without almost crying and calling it cruel, what makes you think she'd be capable of doing something like this?"

Kuroko finally let go and said, "You're right, I've gone and allowed myself to be too distrustful. Though I feel as though this was his fault…"

"!?"

"...Wait a minute I forget to call Konori-senpai back!"

Kuroko proceeded to make a call to her superior which ended in her getting scolded yet again.

* * *

**Part 2**

**August 6**

It was early in the morning and the girl named Frenda Seivelun was at a local supermarket.

The blonde-haired blue-eyed high school girl known as Frenda wasn't there for groceries however, she was on a mission though it felt more like an errand than anything as this was her punishment for ignoring a call from her direct superior Mugino Shizuri.

Due to events out of her control, Frenda had to pick up her little sister from the Fireworks Festival the day prior and because of her sister's insistence that they don't spend time with each other, she stayed and watched the fireworks with her.

Unfortunately for Frenda during the festivities, her phone broke.

Normally this wouldn't be a problem if she was a normal high schooler, however, this wasn't the case.

The problem was that it was during this time ITEM, the group she was associated with had a mission and she was nowhere to be found.

Now normally in this line of work if you were nowhere to be found and you didn't pick up the phone you were normally assumed dead or captured.

Due to this Mugino used one of her other subordinates Takitsubo Rikou to track her down.

Luckily for Frenda, she had already sent her sister home when they found her because she had not told anybody in ITEM about her existence mainly because she was very protective over her.

When her team did eventually find her, she was smacked upside the head by Mugino for blatantly ignoring her phone calls and making them waste her time.

As punishment, she was ordered to go pick up a package at her local supermarket.

The package she was ordered to pick up was an **Ability Body Crystal** that was used by her team member Takitsubo to use her power.

Frenda didn't know the specifics of how it worked but from the looks of it Takitsubo needed that crystal to use her powers and whenever she took them she would feel sick and lethargic afterward.

Normally a job like this would go to a courier but now Frenda was tasked with this job.

"***Sigh*** In the end, I did have to wake up before noon."

The drop point for the package was in the back alley behind a supermarket and the product itself was hidden in a box of cereal.

With the box in hand, Frenda rushed to get back to her hideout with the product.

However, due to her carelessness, she ran into another person and dropped her box.

"Hey! Basically, you ran me over!"

The boy quickly raised his hands to apologize, "I-I'm so sorry. I was just buying some groceries and I got a call and-"

"So, in the end, you ran me over because you were too busy on your phone to look where you were going!?"

"I-I'm so sorry…..hey do I know you from somewhere?"

Frenda narrowed her eyes at the boy, "Just get outta here."

The boy quickly picked up his groceries bags and ran off.

Frenda huffed as she picked up a box of cereal and made her way back to ITEM's Hideout.

It was one of the many hideouts they had but as always the hideout was furnished.

The first member of ITEM she found was Takitsubo, she was sluggishly laying on the sofa with her arms and legs sprawled out limply while her gaze aimlessly wandered around.

"Oh, hi Frenda I noticed you coming."

"So basically, this is for you."

Takitsubo took the cereal box from Frenda's hands and proceeded to open it, "Thanks Frenda, but I don't like this brand."

Frenda chuckled, "Very funny."

Takitsubo continued to rummage in the box and took out what looked to be a treasure chest, "I like the toy though."

"...What?"

Panic set in as Frenda turned around and saw Takitsubo playing with what looked like a wand from a children's show.

"T-Takitsubo a-are you being serious!?"

Takitsubo sighed and lazily spoke, "I'm sorry I was just trying to be supportive, I don't like the toy either."

Once Frenda ripped open the box she found that the contents only contained sugary goodness that was name-brand cereal.

What proceeded was a fit of hysteria that even had Takitsubo stand up straight for once.

* * *

**Accelerator's Hospital Room**

The light that shone into the room caused Accelerator to wake up.

His hospital room didn't have any tall buildings surrounding it so the amount of sunlight his

room could receive in a day unlimited. It was about sunrise now, Accelerator guessed. At that moment, he found a face staring at him.

It was a smiling Nun waving her arms around like a pinwheel.

Accelerator sleepily reflected all the voices around his ears.

Accelerator's reflection wouldn't be interrupted even when sleeping. Sometimes, he would even redirect the sound to sleep better, and then nothing would wake him up.

"HEY, WAKE UP YUKI WE'VE GOT A SURPRISE FOR YOU! -"

It was as if someone just stood right beside her and roared.

Having just woken up, Accelerator had to open his eyes. He was hungry, but what made it harder for him to go back to sleep was the Nun staring at him.

Though he could redirect sound, it was like putting on a blindfold when bugs were flying around, the uncomfortable feeling couldn't be removed.

"What time is it?"

"Hmmm? It's Morning, or to be more specific About 9:30.12 sec."

She spoke as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Unbeknownst to him given her perfect memory coupled knowledge of 103,000 grimoires she always kept track of the exact time in whatever region she was currently in. It was like she was her own astrological clock.

"So why are you here?"

"Didn't you hear me the first time? I said we have a surprise for you!"

Now that she mentioned it, 'he' wasn't with her.

"Don't want it."

This was a natural response from someone who had just received a surprise yesterday in the form of taking care of Index the day before.

It wasn't too long until Index began whining again and he found himself in the same position he was in yesterday.

In the end, he followed her and hoped that this surprise would end this new type of torture that was birthed in Academy City.

* * *

**Part 3**

On August 6, the roads were packed with people. As 80% of the population were students, most of them were trying to make the most of their summer vacation.

Now while Accelerator didn't particularly enjoy being dragged along somewhere what made it worse was the fact that as they made their way down the street everybody was staring at the girl named Index.

She had white skin, a short build, long silver hair that reached her waist, and green eyes. She also wore a showy white nun's habit with gold embroidery that was reminiscent of a nouveau riche teacup.

It seemed as though she was gaining the attention of the people of Academy City with her choice of wardrobe.

"Hey, Yuki where do you go to school? Do you have any other friends? Is your hair real or do you use a product on it like Touma? How old are you? Why aren't you answering? Yuki!?"

"Do you normally talk like a machine gun? How the hell am I supposed to answer any of those questions if you ask another one before waiting for a response?"

Index was silent for a moment.

"...Is this enough time?"

While Accelerator knew she was being serious he couldn't help but feel as though there was some sarcasm in that response.

"My hair's real unlike '_his'_ though if you're asking why it's white that's beyond me. From what I know it's a side effect of my power. My ability can naturally reflect all unwanted UV rays so my body itself doesn't need pigments."

"Ohh, that's cool. It's just like an Epimeliad. {nymphs associated with apple trees and protectors of sheep and goats. They usually had hair white.}

"You watch way too many cartoons."

Accelerator was feeling rather surprised that he could be so talkative. He often said some mocking words in the experiment but talking with the dolls never ended in any real meaningful way.

Looking at his past thought process now, the conversation he was having with Index was already an anomaly in itself.

Of course, Accelerator was a member of this society, and he was not so savage that he would kill everyone he met, but he never had the experience of talking to another person before so candidly, before he met…..

"I'm a student in a special class, even though I don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing," Accelerator casually said.

Ever since the power development course had caused his ability to awaken, he was drafted into a special class.

He was the only one in the class. He didn't need to attend a sports meet, nor did he need to attend any cultural festivals. Though there were almost two thousand students in his school, he was the only student in his class.

"Hmmm? That's neat, so do you have any friends in your class?"

"I'm the only student."

Index frowned, "That must be really lonely…Are you lonely?"

"Tch! Such a ridiculous question. What if I say yes? Are you going to pat my head and comfort me?"

Accelerator casually said that, and after he finished, what was left was an icy silence.

"Tch! Where are we going anyway?"

Index proudly puffed her chest, "Yesterday Touma said he'd make it up to me for not taking me with him to go to the Fireworks Festival by making me breakfast."

"So why am I going?"

"Hospital food is tasty and all but having the same thing over and over again must be torture-"

It had seemed that Index had imagined that eating the same food over and over again was a type of sensory deprivation torture except with your tastebuds.

Index then smiled, "Besides you deserve something for saving all those people yesterday."

"Tch! Now I know you're imagining things."

* * *

**Part 4**

**Judgement Office 177**

Continuing on the trail of the culprit behind the recent Poltergeistings, Mikoto followed Kuroko to the Judgement office to review the case.

Whoever the culprit was they were able to artificially tampering with the AIM diffusion fields. To make matters worse the culprit might have been present at the Firework Festival themselves as Nayuta was searching the grounds herself.

And to top it all off the culprit might be another Level 5, something that Judgement was incapable of handling.

This was in no disrespect to the skills of Judgement but instead regards to how powerful a Level 5 can be. And in the current roster of Judgement, there was no one currently enrolled that could feasibly take on a Level 5 by themselves.

Just as the two were going to continue looking through the information they have gathered they heard the door to the Judgement Office open.

"Railgun Onee-san, I'm glad I found you."

The two spun around to see Nayuta standing there sporting the same kiddie red backpack along with the EMF detectors that had a shiny chrome finish. (prototype AIM Sensor)

Kuroko spoke up, "Fancy meeting you here if you don't mind me asking who and what were you investigating when we ran into you when you were at the festival last night?"

"? Oh well like I said before I was looking for someone in specific and now I think I found them."

"!? You found the culprit behind the recent surge of Poltergeistings!?"

The blond-haired little girl tilted her head, "I hope not, though maybe they might have some insight that we're missing?"

The chestnut twin-tailed Shirai Kuroko tilted her head, so Nayuta explained.

"Tell me before District 7 which District was hit with the most cases of Poltergiestings per capita?"

"District 19."

Nayuta snapped her little fingers, "Correct, now there can be two reasons as to why this is. First whoever caused the recent surge of Poltergeistings moved from District 19 to District 7 or they simply moved the location of their tampering as to draw less attention to themselves."

Mikoto nodded, "So, they started affecting District 7 so people would stop investigating district 19."

"Right in one, and it just so happens I picked up on the Level 5s trail in District 19."

Mikoto clenched her fist, "Good, let's go."

"Wait for me Onee-sama!"

Before Kuroko followed the two any further she stopped to look at her screen one more time.

She had been secretly investigating Haruue to see if she could be a suspect.

While true the rogue Level 5 seemed plausible it had many holes in it such as the fact that the destruction was so low.

It was said Level 5s could rival armies and yet it seemed as though the damage caused didn't match up to the suspect they had in mind.

If her friends knew that she was investigating Haruue as a prime suspect they'd probably be upset with her. Especially Uiharu who was her roommate and treated her as you would a best friend.

While Shirai Kuroko cared about how her friends view her and wished nothing more for her suspicions to be unfounded as a member of Judgement it was her duty to look at every possibility so she could prevent the injuries of any more students.

That is why she looked so downtrodden as she read the file on Haruue.

**Haruue Erii**-Level 2 Telepath- able to communicate telepathically with other people no matter the distance or any obstructions. However, when exposed to certain frequencies, her ability can show powers above that of her normal level.

"Kuroko hurry up!"

"...Coming!"

* * *

**Part 5**

**Touma's Dorm**

Through an alley off the road and down a few narrow lanes, they finally arrived at a seven-story student dorm. The surrounding buildings were more than 8 stories tall, though they didn't block the sun from reaching it as you would expect it to.

Accelerator sighed as he walked into the building and climbed the concrete stairs up to the seventh floor.

Not far behind him was the Nun who always walked about 3 feet exactly behind him.

While he had been here before he never actually climbed its steps, the upkeep of the building was better than what he could say about his student dormitory. The steps were clean and the atmosphere seemed lighter.

The contrast between the two's living quarters didn't end there.

When they reached the seventh floor Index had told him he could go in whatever door he wanted to of the two she pointed at.

At first, he thought she was messing with him but upon closer inspection, he saw it.

The first door she had pointed at had the nameplate.

_**Kamijou**_

One would immediately expect that this would be his dorm correct but once he saw the second door he became even more confused.

_**Kamijou**_

"?"

He stood there for a few moments wondering which was real when he saw Index just casually open up one of the doors.

When he walked inside he saw that the Interior is rather spacious, having enough space for a one-person bed as well as a coffee table and television, the room also contained a refrigerator and enough space for bookshelves. Though even with all of this there was still a lot of unused space inside which was currently being occupied by moving boxes.

What surprised him the most was his Kitchen. It was something you'd see out of a restaurant and it even had a counter large enough for multiple people to eat from.

"What the hell is this place!?"

Hearing noise come from his dorm Touma walked out of his laundry room which was located next to the kitchen.

"Hey, what's up?"

Index gave a small shriek of joy when she saw the elegant lunch that Touma had made for the two.

The counter was full of exquisite food that was made to feed a small party or in this case just Index.

"EEK! Touma, I love it!"

Touma smiled, "Thanks, but you really need to go at your own pace when eating."

While Accelerator was wealthy it wasn't as though he ate at 5-star restaurants daily, (even though he could afford it) but even he could tell that something like this was expensive.

And something like this coming from the boy who recently complained that the price of bus fare increased seemed suspicious.

"How'd you get this?"

The question was as straightforward as you could get, but even so, that didn't stop the boy from tilting his head.

"What're you talking about?"

They say seeing someone's room can show you a brand new perspective on a person and this was that.

From Accelerator's perspective, the way Kamijou complained about having no money and his exorbitant amount of living space he had coupled with the fact that the food he had gotten looked expensive, something didn't add up.

"I said how'd you get this?"

"Hmmmmm? The store I guess, I had to get up pretty early to get all the ingredients I needed. I even got Index that cereal she's been talking about."

Suddenly the white-habited girl's eyes sparkled.

Before she could even speak she was already handed the box.

"Geez you know I read the nutritional facts on that and I'm surprised that there aren't more kids rotting their teeth. I mean how much sugar can you really put in food before you just call it sugar with some colors?"

She ignored his comments and continued dumping the contents of the box into her bowl.

"..Wait, you made this?"

"Yeah, Touma's a chef, but don't ask him to show you his lighter, he still doesn't like to talk about it. I think he's still trying to find a way to tell Misaki that he lost it."

"I-I didn't lose it! It's just…not with me right now and I don't exactly know where I put it."

Flustered he reached inside his pocket and pulled out lighter.

Index took one look and said, "Just because you color it gold doesn't make it gold Touma. She'd never buy it."

"***Sigh*** It was worth a shot…...***Sigh***"

Feeling slightly dejected he took a seat and stared at the lighter.

Watching all of this unfold you'd think Accelerator would feel sorry for the boy.

But that wasn't the case.

"I hope you don't expect me to share with the Nun. I can promise you that'd end in one way."

Touma nodded, "Yeah, I kinda figured something like that would happen. So I put your plate over here outside of her range."

Touma proceeded to carefully hand over Accelerator's promised meal, "Be careful the plates still hot."

The plate still steaming Accelerator watched as Touma put his plate in front of him.

It was a **Charcoal Grilled Round Steak with Chestnut Sauce**.

While the food itself looked delicious the small metal board that was used to hold the meat didn't seem to fit the wooden plate holding it, it started to move about, and he couldn't cut the meat properly.

"Touma! I need milk!"

"Okay give me a…..Index! You can't just put the whole box into the bowl like that! Wait that wasn't the bowl I gave you. Where'd you get that!?"

"From over there, it didn't fit in the one you gave me so I went and got one that did."

The bowl that she had procured was a Large Salad bowl.

And was not something that was the recommended serving size for this brand of cereal.

"Why are you even eating so much cereal!? I literally made you an entire assortment of breakfast other than cereal!"

The nun waved him off, "For the prize of course."

Both boys paused a minute.

"...You do know you could just flip the box over and get the prize like that, right?"

"..."

She paused for a moment grasping the words that he said.

"Heh, Oh well."

Accelerator paused for a while and then reached his hand out to grab the metal board properly.

He could reflect all the heat, and so he wouldn't be scalded at all.

"Hey, Touma this isn't the toy that was on the box!"

Index had pulled out a small metal box no bigger than a pencil case and was waving it in the air protesting this egregious case of false advertisement.

"Hey, let me see that."

Accelerator grabbed the box and began examining it.

"What is it?"

Accelerator took a moment before responding.

"Just some trash, I guess whoever made this box got lazy and put this in, sorry to tell you this but you got screwed."

Index began stomping her feet, "Grrrrrr! How dare they! Touma they lied! The box said it would have a wand and instead they give me this! Where's the Justice!?"

Touma began waving his hand in hopes of calming her rage, "I-Index it's just a toy."

"WHAT DID YOU SAY!?"

(Uh oh)

"Touma this isn't about the toy anymore it's about the principle of the matter! They promised to give me it and they lied! You can't just do that! That's it, we're going to the store to show them this!"

"I-Index that's not how it works. Besides you already dumped most of it on your bowl so it's not like they'd give us a refund or any-"

He felt a dark aura, "Touma…Are you siding with these ungodly heathens who'd lie to children just to make a profit?"

"N-No, wait Index, please!... SUCH MISFORTUNE!"

* * *

**Part 6**

"***Sigh*** Do we have to go back to the store Index? I mean we even had to board a train just to come here."

Index nodded, "They have to repent Touma. They can't go around giving people false promise! This is just like when the Roman Catholics Church started selling indulgences! We can't let this stand!"

Accelerator, for the most part, was silent the whole way there.

"Hey, Yuki what's up?"

"...Nothing."

"?"

"Hmph! Yuki's also upset over this whole terrible ordeal Touma, unlike you!"

"Tch! Don't lump me in with you."

The group finally made it to the grocery store.

It was a modest shop that was fairly large for being one of the few stores that weren't associated with a larger parent corporation.

Right before Touma could walk in with his group he felt a tug on his shirt.

He turned around and saw the girl he bumped into earlier.

She had blonde hair and blue eyes she wore a black sailor top and a pleated skirt along with a dark-colored beret.

"I need you to come with me right now."

"Huh? Oh like I said earlier I'm sorry about what happened earlier so-"

By this time Accelerator and Index were long out of his sight as they had already entered the building.

If humans could produce fire when angered then she would've consumed the entire block with the look she gave Touma.

"STOP LYING! GIVE IT BACK!"

Maybe it was his sixth sense or maybe it was just his common sense that told him that danger awaited.

Whatever the reason was it didn't change the fact that Kamijou Touma began running for his dear life.

* * *

**Part 7**

"PLEASE, I ALREADY SAID I WAS SORRY!"

The misfortunate highschooler ran throughout the streets hoping to lose his pursuer.

The pedestrians didn't help since from their perspective Touma was the bad guy as they all heard her scream.

"GIVE BACK WHAT YOU STOLE YOU"

(Oh, come on! I already said I was sorry!)

The pursuit continued as they neared the edge of the district.

They eventually found themselves in an abandoned section of District. Rundown restaurants and vacant buildings made up this neighborhood.

"Wait! Can't we just talk this out!?"

"Yeah sure, just give me back what you stole and we can let bygones be bygones."

"R-Really, wait I didn't steal anything?"

A small vein popped inside the small blonde girl's head.

"I see….In the end, you really do wanna die, huh?"

Touma instinctually started to back up as she saw her reach under her skirt for something.

"I-Is that a…missile?"

She stared him down, "Basically you have two options, give me back what you stole or be blown to bits."

"B-But I didn't steal anything! Come on, don't you think you're being a bit too drastic over here!?"

She had a smile on her face as she said: "So it's option 2 ."

Touma shuddered as he saw the small missile in her hand began to light up as it shot its way towards him.

***BOOOM!***

If it wasn't for him jumping away at the last second he would've been blown to bits.

Touma's eyes widened as he looked behind the girl, "Hey what was that for!?…... What're you doing here?"

Frenda blinked, turning her head to look behind her.

"Huh!? What the hell are you talking about there's no one…Wait! Where the hell did you go!? Get back here and fight me like a man!"

* * *

**Part 8**

**Gemstone Research Facility**

"So I guess you already know why I'm here."

The golden blonde esper took a seat inside Seria's office and turned to her.

An upperclassman girl full of mature charm sat down and looked right back towards her,

"Not in particular. Contrary to popular belief you're not the center of my world. I have bigger problems to deal with at the moment so please, do refresh my memory as to why you choose to invite yourself over here."

The Level 5 sighed as she explained, "The description you gave me of Accelerator and the one I saw don't match up. Sure he might be an ill-mannered person but I don't see him going out and murdering people on a whim."

Seria sighed, "That's one interpretation of the events."

"?"

"Tell me you entered his mind in the hospital correct? If so you must have seen something, right?"

"..."

"The Level 6 shift is a project that is currently being spearheaded by **Kihara Gensei**"

Misaki gritted her teeth hearing that name again.

"The project began a few months ago I think but either way the total kill count is well above 9,000"

"So why don't we just stop it already. It wouldn't be the first time that-"

Seria raised her hand to stop her, "Even if you were to do something that drastic then what? For now, this is just a handful of research facilities conducting experiments but if they were to be destroyed then they would simply spread out the project across to even more research facilities. Even if they would lose some profits, in the end, they'd get what they want."

"...I already know that, but what if we just tell To-"

"Tell me, did you understand what I told you before? What do you care more about, his safety or his happiness?"

"..."

"If you were to tell him all that would cause is a bigger mess. Best case scenario he convinces Accelerator to stop his participation in the Project. And even then do you know what they'd do with the clones? They'd send them off to die at the hands of some other esper who's on the brink of reaching Level 4 or 5. At the end of the day, the project still has merit in the fact that he's the strongest and that's something that can't be refuted."

Seria sighed as she said, "Worst case, he lashes out and tries to justify to himself that he's right and kills Touma and everyone else who gets in his way."

"So you'd rather just let all the clones all die?"

Seria shook her head, "Tell me, what do you think the Railgun would do if she found out that these experiments were going on?"

"She'd probably be angry enough to try to kill Accelerator to stop the project but given the difference in their strength she wouldn't stand much of a chance."

"Correct, now if she the sanest of all the Level 5s would be driven to the point of attempting to murder someone what do you think the mentally questionable number 1 would do if he suddenly regretted his decision."

"...Most likely go on another killing spree ending the lives of everyone involved in the project…...given his strength he could probably threaten Academy City as a whole until he gets what he wants."

"***Sigh*** As much as I want to tell Kamijou….it's best if he doesn't find out. That goes for the Railgun too. For now, if we want to stop the project we're going to have to find a way to cripple Accelerator."

"!? Excuse me what!?"

"With the destruction of the Tree Diagram, the researchers are all banking on the last calculation is made. That being how Accelerator can become a Level 6."

This was true. The researchers in charge of the project were in a frenzy after Accelerator was hospitalized. If he were to get crippled at this crucial stage then the entire project would go array and probably get called off.

"H-How is that even possible? Wait, Tree Diagrams been destroyed!?"

"Just recently, on July 28 Tree Diagram was shot down from an unknown source. Given the timing, I'd say it was deliberate."

Chalk this up to a lack of information. As Seria was apart of the Science side she had no knowledge of Index and Touma's involvement in its destruction of Tree Diagram.

"N-No, I won't do anything like that. Accelerator…..I had my reservations when I saw him ...and even now I don't know what to think of him but…..he doesn't deserve something like that…..There has to be some other way to stop the experiment."

Seria leaned back in her chair, "If there is the one I haven't figured it out yet."

Neither of them wanted the experiments to continue or to hurt the people involved in it.

But neither of them could find any other solution.

"***Sigh***, In any case, why do you have that little girl working for you? I believe her name is Nayuta."

"Oh, it's a mutually beneficial relationship, with her last name being 'Kihara' having her work here gives this place more credibility, besides I'd rather her, The Kihara who despises the other Kiharas work here than the rest of them who might try to experiment on these Gemstones."

"? Okay then how does her working for you benefit her?"

"The girl's adamant on trying to find the lost hero for the Child Errors. She had a close relationship with the Child Errors that went missing a few years ago and she heard from one of them the reason as to why they all want to become a Level 5."

"Why's that."

"Because they were all inspired after they all watched as one of their own achieved the rank of Level 5."

* * *

**Part 9**

As Touma hid inside an abandoned two-story restaurant hehe could hear the sound of explosions going off in the background.

It seemed that the person who was chasing him was currently doing the demolition squad a service by blowing up buildings that she had finished searching.

However even while all of this was going on Kamijou Touma had one thought on his mind.

(Where is she putting all these Missiles?)

It was an honest question, from his perspective she was just reaching under her skirt and was firing of missiles like there was no tomorrow.

The unfortunate highschooler rummaged through his pockets in the hopes of finding something that would help him but came short.

All he had on him was a Zippo lighter that was painted gold and his wallet.

He doubted that he would be able to pay off this lunatic.

Touma searched the kitchen he was in and couldn't find anything, the entire room had been stripped clean. All that remained was the things that were nailed down such as the sink and some meal prep tables.

He could hear the front entrance open,

"If you're here come out now! Basically, I'm getting really tired of searching all these buildings and I'm just gonna start blowing them up at this rate!'

This was nothing but a petty threat.

Frenda couldn't afford to let the boy die since if he died, she'd have no idea where to find the Ability crystal.

And if she couldn't find it before Mugino found out she lost it then she'd become…..

_**Fre nda**_

She shuddered for a moment and continued to search the building.

Right as her search was about to come to an end she heard a pipe break from upstairs.

She dashed through the abandoned dining room and kicked the door to the kitchen wide open.

When the door swung open she saw him.

He was sitting on a meal prep table without a care in the world.

That's when he turned to her and said, "Oh hey Barbie."

A vein started to throb in her head as she registered that comment,

"Heh, In the end, you really are just some idiot aren't you. But that doesn't matter anymore."

She went to pull out another missile from under her skirt when the highschooler raised his hands towards her to stop her.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you Barbie."

"And why not?"

"Well, I don't want to see you get blown to pieces that's why." He then pointed to a gas pipe he kicked open.

"Did you know this used to be a high-end restaurant? Sad to see they went under but it seemed that the gas was still on."

Frenda shuttered as she saw the exposed pipe. If she were to set off an explosion here then she'd be caught in it too and die.

(Hmph he probably thinks just cause he's bigger than me he can take me in a fight. Well I hate to burst your bubble but I've taken on guys twice your size no problem)

Right as Frenda was about to take another step forward she stopped in her tracks as she saw him flip open a lighter.

"W-W-What do you think you're doing!?"

"Hmm? Well if you're the type to carry bombs on you then I'd guess your also the type to have some sort of knife on you too right? I'd rather not be stabbed to death thank you.

Frenda could feel her heart begin to beat faster.

"S-So your solution is to blow us up!?"

Touma nodded, "When you were chasing me didn't you say when you caught me I would face a fate worse than death? So, if I am going to go out I'd rather do it on my own terms don't you think?"

"Y-You're bluffing!"

The boy raised an eyebrow, "Hmm is that so? Well, are you gonna come over here and find out Barbie?"

Frenda forced a confident smile on her face and began to slowly approach him.

He was about 2 meters away and currently had his hand on an unopened Zippo Lighter.

She froze in place as she heard the *Clink* of the lighter as it opened.

"Y-Y-Your bluffing!"

"Am I? If I am, why'd you stop moving?"

Frenda could feel her legs begin to wobble.

Death was an occupational hazard in her line of work but that didn't make the prospect of it any less daunting.

(H-H-He's Bluffing! He has to be! He's just some Highschooler there's no way in hell he could do it right!?)

Frenda then tried to force her body to move forward.

"Well, what's it gonna be Barbie!? Are you gonna call me out or are we just gonna stay here all day!?"

(W-Why can't I move…...DAMN IT I'M SO SCARED I'M PETRIFIED! I'M TOO TERRIFIED TO EVEN TAKE ANOTHER STEP FORWARD!)

"The boy simply scoffed, "You know what let's just end this."

"!?"

"But before I do, I have to say you do remind of someone I've met before, although I don't think she was as trigger happy as you are."

The boy then began to spin the flint wheel.

"The little girl I met was nice. Though she had this weird way of talking you know. But that's not what stuck out to me the most, it's what she said when she left. She said-"

Frenda was on the brink of just turning around and running away.

All she needed was one more push.

Right as the flame appeared on the Lighter he turned to face her and said. "**Hat det bra**"

That was the last straw. All the confidence she had from before vanished as she saw him toss the lit lighter towards her

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

She dove right out of the kitchen and took cover behind the few tables that were left behind hugging her head waiting for the Boom.

"Huh?"

But it never came.

She stood up and began to walk back into the kitchen and saw that the lighter was still on and right next to the pipe.

Her eyes followed the pipe and eventually found an already pressed emergency off button for the gas line.

In hindsight, 'Why would there still be gas in an abandoned restaurant?'

Her mouth gaped as she scanned the room and he was nowhere to be seen.

"N-No way! H-He got away!?... Wait a minute."

Frenda's eyes finally found a clue.

An open trash chute.

"N-No way! There's no way in hell I'd ever degrade myself so much that I go through literal garbage!"

She was a lady after all and she did have her limits. She wasn't about to go jump in the trash just to catch up to him.

Right as she was about to walk away she remembered what would happen to her if she failed to find him…...

It wasn't pretty.

"GODDAMNIT!"

She pinched her nose shut and jumped inside the already opened trash chute.

Right as she was about to hit the bottom the floor suddenly stopped her.

"Huh? What the…AHH WHAT THE HELL AM I STANDING ON!? AHHHHH WHAT THE HELL IS IN MY HAIR!?"

"Olive oil."

"Oh okay…When did you get up there!?"

Frenda looked at the opening of the trash chute she had just jumped into and saw the boy's head poking through.

He was currently pouring in some expired olive oil he had found lying around in the cupboards.

"I just hid in one of the meal prep tables. I didn't think you'd be dumb enough to actually jump in! You do know trash chutes lead to a trash compactor right!? If this place were still active you would have killed yourself just now! Lucky for you once they closed this place down they sealed the end of the trash chute shut since the garbage trucks don't come here anymore"

"Grrrr! Get me out of here!….AHH stop pouring that on me!"

"No can do. I don't know if you still have any more missiles left so this will make sure you can't blow your way out of here."

Frenda's face turned red. "GET ME OUT OF HERE! I SWEAR WHEN I GET OUT I'M GONNA-"

Touma shut the trash chute closed

"Wow and I thought Yuki cursed a lot."

After her rant ended Touma opened the chute up again.

"Look I'm sorry about bumping into you, but that doesn't give you the right to try and blow me up! Seriously I'd give you a 1 star in the whole customer service department."

Locked and with nowhere else to go Frenda sat down on what looked to be expired food.

"Ewww….**.*Sniff* *Sniff*"**

"A-Are you crying because I wouldn't let you blow me up?"

"No! I'm filthy and it's cold down here and….. Why'd you have to bump into me and take that cereal box?...In the end, I guess this is it."

There was a long pause as he took this all in.

"SERIOUSLY! You were trying to kill me over some stupid toy that wasn't even in the box! What's with you Kanimin Fans!? If that's what you want here."

Touma then dropped the metal box Index had gotten from the cereal to Frenda.

"If you just told me that was what you were after then I would've given it back."

"Y-Your just giving this to me?"

Touma nodded.

"B-But aren't you gonna try and sell this?"

The contents of the box could easily fetch over 10 million yen so the fact that he would just give it back to her was surprising.

"What? Of course not, besides it doesn't belong to me."

Frenda smiled as she hugged the piece of metal that would save her life, "Thanks."

"Uhhh ...Your Welcome? You do know I'm calling Anti Skill on you, right? You did just blow up several buildings with missiles I'm pretty sure are illegal"

Frenda face grew pale, "C-Come on I said I was sorry."

"No, you didn't."

"***Gulp*** Sorry for trying to blow you up earlier heh…...wait a minute where do think you're going? COME BACK HERE!"

The Misfortunate highschooler did not turn back, however, he did go to the nearest phone and called Anti Skill.

* * *

"Hey Index you wouldn't believe the day I just…why do you look so upset?"

Index had a dark aura formed around her, "Where'd you go Touma…..you had the evidence…..where is it?"

"***Gulp*** L-Look Index it turned out that it wasn't your box to begin with and-"

She narrowed her eyes at him, "So where's my prize, Touma?"

"ER…."

Amidst all of the explosions and confusion, he forgot to ask the girl about Index's prize.

"We couldn't get a refund without that evidence, Touma. You forgot didn't you?"

He tried feigning ignorance in the hopes he wouldn't get bitten.

The next moment, Index, pounced onto Touma without any hesitation.

"Wah!"

The girl bit onto Kamijou's head viciously, as if a primitive just saw a huge slab of meat.

"Touma's a big idiot!"

"Gyyyaahhh!?"

Kamijou cried out in despair, but it was too late.

Just as Accelerator was coming out of the store with another box of cereal he watched as Kamijou jumped about painfully through the streets.

"Heh"

* * *

As the trio walked back to Touma's Dorm Accelerator asked him a question.

"What did happen to that box?"

"Hmm? Turned out it belonged to someone else. They were pretty upset over it, so I just gave it back to them. Why?"

Accelerator thought about telling him that the box was most likely a drop-off.

He knew what they looked like since he would get them from the researchers from time to time updating him on the experiment details.

Whoever that package belonged to was probably associated with the Dark Side of Academy City.

"Nothing, just wondering what the hell you were doing when you stuck me with the Nun over here"

"Heh. S-Sorry about that I didn't mean to-"

"Touma look I finally got my Lotus wand!"

Touma smiled, "Good for you Index."

* * *

**Part 10**

**District 19**

"What is this place?"

Misaka Mikoto was one of Academy City's seven Level 5s and the strongest of the Electromasters. And even she was left speechless as she reached what looked to be a small manor in the middle of nowhere.

"Where here Railgun Onee-san."

The gang looked around the small estate.

From the looks of it, the place was run down.

The grass that surrounded the entire manor was overgrown with grass reaching their legs.

It seemed as though at one point or another this place used to have children as there was a fully stocked playground on the grounds however due to neglect rust had covered it.

"Onee-sama I don't think we're gonna find anything here we should just go back and-"

Before Kuroko could finish her sentence Mikoto pointed to something bizarre.

Near the house, they could see small run-down lawn ornaments begin to float up into the air.

The group neared the flying ornaments as Mikoto began to poke at the ornaments.

"What the heck is this?"

"Onee-sama! You mustn't touch that! We have no idea what someone could have done to it."

Nayuta nodded, "I-I don't know how this is possible, I'm using my ability and I can't see any AIM Fields attached to it to make it float."

"Well, I guess we should get a better view of the place, huh."

Mikoto leaped straight up, used magnetism to press the soles of her shoes against the building's wall, and ran up to the roof.

"Onee-sama! What do you see?"

"Not much. There's just a bunch of run-down stuff in the backyard. Though I do see more of these floating ornaments there."

Mikoto started to grow a little confused.

At the moment, she needed information.

She noticed something while leaning over to view the area below

She immediately jumped from the roof, once more used magnetism to stand perpendicular to the wall, and ran down the wall to reach the ground.

She made her way to an area with very clear footprints indented towards the grass.

She followed them until they came to an end. The closest concrete slab was 100 meters forward and the footprints were facing that direction, so how did they get there without taking another step?

"Kuroko come look at this."

"Huh? That is strange, Nayuta what is this place?"

Nayuta continued to search the grounds where the footprints lead, "People call this the floating house but…...I wouldn't have believed it if I didn't see it with my own eyes. Do you think whoever was here already left?"

That was a good question.

If the footprints were any indicator then whoever the resident should have left by now since no footprints were leading back to the house other than theirs.

"I'm gonna go search the house."

"Onee-sama! It's too dangerous to go without any support!"

"Fine then come with me Kuroko."

While most home invaders would simply break a window to gain entry to a place of residence the students of Tokiwadai had more class than that.

Nayuta leaned in close to Mikoto to her fiddling with the electronic lock.

"Do you think you can hack it Railgun Onee-san?"

"Hmmm? Oh yeah, totally, I'm just trying to see how much electricity output is coming from here. The electric lock is connected to the main power source of the building so from the looks of it someone differently has been living here."

***Biri* *Clink***

Just as the small spark of bluish whit electricity faded the door swung open.

The inside was stranger than the outside.

Small household appliances floated in the air with nothing seemingly holding them up.

"Do you think it's telekinesis?"

"I doubt it. Almost all telekinetics have to have some line of sight to what they want to control so the odds of them controlling all of this including the stuff outside is pretty slim."

"Let's split up."

"EHH!? I didn't know you were a fan of horror movies Onee-san! You never split up when you're inside a strange house!"

She was right.

Kuroko scoffed, "Heh, you really are a child, aren't you? Don't worry if you're scared you could always hold my hand and-"

"I-I'm not scared! Fine if you want to break one of the fundamental rules of surviving in a horror movie fine! Don't come crying to me when someone in a domino mask jumps out of nowhere and screams 'JUSTICE' and takes your stuff!"

Nayuta stormed off.

"What's she talking about?"

Kuroko shook her head, "Forget it, she's just trying to act tough. She gets scared when you leave her alone for too long."

"?"

* * *

**Part 11**

As soon as Mikoto stepped through the metal door that leads to the basement, a muffled beat reverberated more in her gut than her ears.

Eventually, she found what was making the noise it was a large plasma screen TV.

It had been playing some sort of Western Movie before she hit the pause button.

"I-Is that popcorn."

The room itself was expertly furnished with carpeting and New furniture but it seemed whoever owned this residence wasn't much for cleaning as there was still popcorn on the ground from a half-eaten bag.

"I-Is the remote floating too? Geez, what isn't floating in this house?"

True to her words most of the things that were floating in this room were the important things such as the remote to the TV and the controllers to the game console that was hooked up to it.

Right as she was about to touch the remote something landed on her head.

"OW! Who the…..Kuroko?"

"O-Onee-sama? W-What're you doing here? You're supposed to be searching the basement."

From the look on Kuroko's face, she was surprised to see her here.

"Kuroko we are in the basement."

"!? B-But that's impossible I was just on the first floor. I couldn't get in a room that was locked so I peeked in through the creak and Teleported in. How did I get here? I know I did all of my calculations right."

Kuroko wasn't one to make a mistake as big as this.

If she had she would've been dead long ago since her ability required 11th-dimensional calculations and one simple screw up could lead one into teleporting themselves in between a wall killing themselves instantly.

"Kuroko I think something off about this place if your ability isn't working as it should, you shouldn't try to teleport again until we're outta here, okay."

Kuroko nodded, "You got it Onee-sama."

"By the way, did you see Nayuta?"

"Not since we all split up, why?"

Mikoto had a look of concern on her face, "I think we should get outta here for now."

"? You wanna go back?"

"Not back just far enough away so we can get our bearing on the situation. For now, we're just wandering aimlessly here with no clue on what this Level 5 could do."

Kuroko smiled as she pounced to hug Mikoto, "Oh I knew you'd see the light one of these days Onee-sama. All my lessons on the importance of patience must be finally paying off!"

"Kuroko get off of me!"

Right as Mikoto was about to zap Kuroko they heard it.

"GYHAAAAA! AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!"

* * *

**Part 12**

Nayuta continued searching the house.

She was still upset that they both still saw her as a child.

While it was true she was still in grade school that didn't make her feel any better.

As Nayuta continued down the corridor she saw a room that was sticking open plain as day to see.

Her Judgement training told her to go in without making any noise as to not let the criminal get wind of her approach.

Although in this case, the person in question was less a criminal and more a person of interest in the current Poltergeistings.

As she cracked the door open she snuck in. The room was dimly lit as only a small window at the top of the wall allows light to enter the room.

As she fumbled her way through she found what looked to be a silhouette of a person.

"Hey, I'm with Judgement! No sudden moves!"

The silhouette did not move an inch.

Just as she was about to grab it the silhouette fell over on the ground.

"Huh?"

Nayuta was filled with horror as she saw its head come clean off as it hit the ground.

"GYHAAAAA! AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!"

Nayuta fell backward and began scurrying away from the body. While she was a Judgement agent she was also just a child and watched one too many horror movies when she shouldn't have.

Footsteps rushed towards Nayuta as the door slammed open.

"Nayuta what's wrong!?"

"B-B-B-B-Body! I-It's a dead body!"

Mikoto quickly turned the lights on in the room to reveal the fallen corpse.

"I-Is that Magical girl Kanamin?"

"Eh?"

Mikoto had seen that face far too many times to count as Index was an avid fan.

Nayuta looked over to what she thought was a corpse and instead found a life-sized figurine of Magical girl Kanimin with its head cracked off.

Kuroko began chuckling, "Quick we got to report this to headquarters we got a figurine down repeat we got a figure down! HAHAHA!"

Nayuta's face was red with embarrassment. "B-But I was…...GAHHH! WHY DOES THIS KEEP HAPPENING TO ME!?"

"***Sigh*** Look Nayuta we're heading out whatever this place is it's affecting Kuroko's calculations so we should go."

Nayuta's head tilted, "Really? What the heck is this place first my ability doesn't work and now Judgement Onee-san. What's going on with our powers? Can you use your powers alright?"

Mikoto generated a few bluish-white sparks on her hand, "Yeah."

Nayuta bit her thumb as she tried to figure out what was going on here.

First, all the lawn ornaments were floating outdoors and household items were floating indoors.

It was like the laws of physics didn't take precedence in here or something.

And now she is told that Kuroko can't use her power correctly.

What was going on in this Manor?

"Is everything alright?"

"Y-Yeah"

Nayuta followed them as the went to the stairs to begin there descent when she heard it.

***THWOOOOOOSH!***

It was as if a Jet engine went off in their faces as the three of them were launched across the room.

Nayuta was the first to get up, "Whoever's there show yourself"

Just then she saw some scurry across the dark hallway.

"I got you now…."

"Nayuta are you-"

Nayuta began to fall to her knees as her entire body began to wobble. The floor beneath her was starting to crack as if there was some invisible weight on it.

"Kuroko I think…"

Mikoto turned around to see Kuroko lying sprawled on the ground laying on her back struggling to get up.

"O-Onee-sama I-I can't get up."

Mikoto tried to help Kuroko stand but it was if she weighed a hundred pounds more than she should have.

"W-What the heck is happening here!?"

Backed into a corner Mikoto pulled out an arcade token from her pocket and aimed at the wall behind her.

***BOOOOOOOOOOM!***

The wall crumbled as the Orange-yellow beam of light passed through it at the speed of sound.

Suddenly the floor began to feel as though it was tilting and all three of them fell out through the hole Mikoto had created.

"A-Are you two okay!?"

Kuroko slowly got up to dust herself off, "Y-Yeah it was if something was forcing me down and I couldn't get up."

Nayuta nodded, "I-I saw them but then my vision began to tunnel. And I collapsed on the ground."

Suddenly something clicked inside of Nayuta's head.

The reason as to why everything was so Bizzare was-.

"Railgun Onee-san it's gravity!"

"!?"

"!?"

"It explains everything the reason as to why everything was floating without the esper being near it! The esper affect its gravity! The reason why Judgement Onee-san can't use her ability is that whoever this is can distort gravity and mess with her calculations!"

"O-Onee-sama I think she's right. The weight I felt on myself wasn't something a telekinetic could do."

"So you're saying the Level 5 we're up against can control gravity?"

Just then all three of them could see the silhouette of a person standing next to the hole Mikoto had just recently made.

ゴ

ゴ

ゴ

ゴ

ゴ

ゴ

"What're you doing here!?"

It was at that moment the esper who could manipulate the Electromagnetic Spectrum faced off against the person who could manipulate gravity.

＜**「****To Be Continued l l /**

* * *

**Omake**

**Frenda's Isolation**

As Frenda continued to sit there in the trash chute she reflected over her actions a bit.

If she had just told him what she wanted she could've saved herself so much trouble.

She began to become more accustomed to her setting.

At first, she wanted to vomit at the pure rancid scent of the trash chute but now she could bear it.

"***Sigh*** Heh. I got to give it to him the whole fake gas trick did get me. I should try doing that too sometime…...but how would I fake gas…..I know I'd just use fake powder and say it's ignition gas or something, yeah! Good job me."

It had seemed Frenda had begun talking to herself.

"Hey, Frenda are you down there?"

"OH MY GOD, IT'S YOU I'VE NEVER BEEN HAPPY TO SEE YOU IN MY LIFE!"

"Ugh! You Ultra stink! What the heck are you doing down there? Mugino's Ultra pissed that it took you so long to get the package."

Frenda then proudly waved the metal box in her hand.

Saiai grimaced, "I-I'm sure Takitsubo is gonna be Ultra thrilled to see it…...you know when we clean it that is"

"Can you please get me out of here I think I just felt something move."

* * *

**Tune in next time for a Fundamental Battle**


	26. Chapter 26 A Fundamental Battle

**Hey, thanks for reading a Certain Scientific Counter. Sorry about the delay. Thank you for everyone who left a review and I'd like to thank my Beta-Reader Graeskog for helping me edit this chapter. Without further ado Q&A**

**Guest- The power Touma got wouldn't really drastically change his life since it's not that special. He would be useless in any real-world scenario since both powers require something supernatural to occur to use it. And the reason why Touma didn't forget Misaki was that she was even more restricted in what she could do in his brain since she had to deal with both his abilities reacting to her interference.**

**D. N Works - I wish Accelerator was the hero but apparently he wasn't a Child Error he mentioned how he had his own name and own family name before he got his powers so I doubt it. And yeah it was more wishful thinking, Accelerator could block a nuclear bomb so nothing the could do would really hurt him.**

**Tsun- Yep no Misaki. But there's a good reason for that and it's because the whole arc would never happen in the first place. Look at how fast Touma resolved the Big Spider Arc. If Misaki was there the arc would be like 2 chapters long with her saying nope we can't trust her. The answers right here. And if you read below the main part of this chapter wouldn't happen as she's smart enough not to do dumb things. In short, I can only put her in parts that wouldn't completely end the arc in its infancy because she's so powerful. You'll be seeing her more in a future arc but for now, it's Biri Biri time to shine. And yeah I read that part in NTR 22 he really does bully Misaki.**

**Aminadab Brulle- I know what you mean there, Uiharu has to one of the characters that acted OOC in this Railgun arc from what we see her do in the Light Novels. Ad yeah Nayuta is apart of this arc now something I've been building up for a while now. And she didn't know Touma was talking about Fremea. From her perspective, he was playing mind games with her if she did find out that Touma met her she would've had a much different reaction.**

**BlueJack22- Yep Touma's life has gotta be... Misfortunate.**

**Fortitude501- I had a theory about this. It's said that she's a Level 4 esper and doesn't directly use her ability in combat s maybe it's like a pocket dimension ability that can hold small objects. It's either that or she's doing the Shirai thin and has a black strap around her thighs that are filled to the brim with missiles.**

**awardedall- Thank you for the comment and kind words.**

**nameless- Your not wrong there since this is a Railgun Arc and the last one he took part in ended in 1 chapter. I'll make sure to put the couple in the spotlight when I can but Like I said before if they were both fully apart of the earlier arcs then it would end in a chapter due to how competent Misaki is. And I like your ideas especially the last one since I recently went on Reddit and saw a small comic strip of Touma babysitting all of the girls he met as they were turned into 5-year-olds. It basically ended with them all saying that they wanted to marry him when they grew up and Touma was like...Such Misfortune?**

**Sirius962 - Not gonna lie to you when I read the description of what he described it to mean, I read over the essay I wrote about the Left arms power and saw that they were similar. Thank you for the comment and I got what you were trying to say.**

**Yakutsu Zaishiro- For now in this arc, they are since they're both uber powerful to the point where they could solve all of the arcs problems in one chapter. I'll make sure to give them the spotlight in future arcs.**

**A Fundamental Battle**

**Part 1**

**Judgement Branch Office 177**

"Ehhh!? What'd you mean you don't work today? This is the first I'm hearing about it. And you're hanging out with Haruue too!? Why didn't you invite me Uiharu?"

"***Pant*** S-Sorry Saten I just wanted to show Haruue around in the park. Why don't you hang out with Misaka-san and Shirai-san?"

Saten sighed, "They're not here either. Apparently, they left to investigate some big break in the case or something."

"***Pant*** T-That's too bad Saten. Y-You could always come here and help me show Haruue around."

"Why do you sound so out of breath?"

"***Pant*** I-I'm rowing a boat right now. S-So are you coming?"

"Yeah sure. Just don't sink the boat before I get there. It'd be a pain to have to find you in the park's lake."

"***Pant*** T-That's so mean! O-Okay, call me when you get here."

* * *

**A Certain Nature Preserve**

"***Pant*** So Haruue-san, how are you liking the park?"

"It's fun. Are you sure you don't want me to help you row? You seem tired."

Uiharu shook her head as sweat dripped from her forehead, "I-I'm fine really!"

"O-Okay,"

"***Pant* **S-So how did you like Misaka-san? I-I know it can be pretty intimidating, to see a Level 5 in-person for the first time. When I met her, I was practically begging her for an autograph."

Haruue smiled as she looked across the river and towards the students playing with their friends, "She was nice, though Misaka-san wasn't the first Level 5 I met."

"!? EH!? What'd you mean Haruue-san!? You're telling me you already met another Level 5!? Am I already falling behind!?"

Haruue tilted her head slightly, "Yeah….I-I don't like to talk about but...I'm a Child Error."

Uiharu was silent for a moment as she stopped paddling, "That's nothing to be ashamed of Haruue-san."

Haruue smiled as she looked at the floor of the rowboat, "That's not what I…...thank you."

Uiharu smiled, "So what was this Level 5 like?"

"Hmmm...I didn't really know her that well? Banri-chan was the one who talked to her the most."

"? Banri-chan?"

Haruue instantly covered her mouth as though she had said something she wasn't supposed to.

"Haruue? Are you okay?"

"...I-I'm fine….It's just…"

Seeing that she was beginning to become uncomfortable Uiharu tried to change the subject, "S-So does this Mysterious Level 5 have a name?"

"O-Oh yes sorry about that."

"It's alright."

"Well like I said before, I didn't know that person very well since she was older than us. In fact, the moment we all found out she was a Level 5 she left the facility with some researchers."

Uiharu nodded, "I can see that happening, they're only 7 Level 5s in all of Academy City so it makes sense for researchers to scout her and send her to some private facility."

Haruue nodded, "We were all really excited when the news came out."

"So you still haven't told me this mysterious ladies' name?"

Haruue clutched her head as she was having a slight headache.

"Oh her name is-"

* * *

**District 19 Floating House**

"I said what're you doing here y-you home invaders!?"

The reply was a bit too tense, it was if the attacker was nervous.

Mikoto tilted her head unsure of what to make of this, "Who are you calling home invaders!?"

The shadowy figure proceeded to take cover behind the opening of the hole Mikoto had made, "Y-You broke in here and t-trashed my house! That's the textbook definition of a Home invader, and to make things worse you blew a hole in my wall."

Feeling the pressure leave her body Kuroko began to stand straight and proceeded to put on her Judgment armband, "Excuse me! I'm Kuroko Shirai of Branch 177 of Judgement and you're coming with me for assaulting an officer!"

"EH!? No way am I gonna believe two little kids can be Judgement officers. You don't even look like you're out of elementary school yet."

Kuroko began to glare, "WHAT'D YOU JUST SAY!? Come down here and say that again!"

She then began to pull out the small metal spikes from the black straps that she had on her thighs.

"Hieee!"

Right as Kuroko was about to take a step forward, she felt the weight of the world come down on her as she was pinned face-first into the ground.

"Kuroko! Are you alright!?"

Her response was muffled due in part by the fact that her face was on the ground but a weak 'I'm okay' could be heard.

Bluish white sparks of lightning flew from Mikoto's hand and towards the mysterious individual only to be stopped by some invisible force.

"Oh, you're an electromaster….Then how'd you blow a hole in my wall!?"

As she said that, the iron sand that was accumulated from the surrounding dirt and sand formed objects that were as large as golf balls, letting them float in the air for a bit they began rotating.

The black spheres danced about amid the bluish-white sparks. Standing in the midst of this amazing scene, Mikoto let out a fearless smile, and the numerous balls flew towards the girl.

***Ding***

As they each neared her they all once again were stopped by some mysterious invisible force.

"Why are you attacking me!? And why aren't you being pinned down!?"

Mikoto glared at the suspect, "I already know what you did! So just admit to what you've and we can make a lot easier!"

"Hieeee! How do you know about that!?"

"Aha! So you did do something!"

The figure started waving their hands in front of them as though they were denying the accusation, "N-No you don't understand I had no idea the guy was doing that! If I knew what he was doing I never would've helped him out!"

The figure then started to make its way into the light where Mikoto could properly see the suspect's face.

She was a girl of average height with smooth pale skin, whose eyes are tinted with a violet gradient. Her curly hair that was colored indigo reminded Mikoto of seaweeds as it covered her face, barring away the annoying sunlight.

Seeing the girl's appearance clearly, now Mikoto could tell that she was close to her age although they couldn't be more different.

The girl was dressed in a colorful sweatshirt that had the picture of Magical girl Kanimin that was 2 sizes too big for her along with shorts that didn't match the color.

In other words, she was dressed in the exact opposite manner that Mikoto, a lady of Tokiwadai would dress.

"Who are you?"

"Don't ask someone their name before you introduce yourself! It's rude…...s-short hair!"

Mikoto rolled her eyes, "That's rich coming from someone who looks like they copied their haircut from seaweed."

The girl let off a small whine before trying desperately to fix her hair. "***Sob*** T-That's so mean."

(She took damage from that!?)

"Y-You can't expect a girl to always look perfect. I-I just woke up so-"

"Wait you just woke up!? It's gotta be close to noon now! What kinda lifestyle do you live."

The hurt girl held onto the wall as looked downtrodden on the floor as she recollected her lifestyle, "...Wait a minute why do I care what a home invader says!"

Once again, another shot of bluish-white lighting made its way towards the girl and once again it was stopped by some mysterious force.

"That's not gonna work. My shield strong enough to hold up against a thermal bomb."

The young girl then proceeded to casually walk off the edge which almost caused Mikoto to flinch until she saw her float in mid-air.

Slowly lowering herself by some unseen force the girl landed safely on the ground that hadn't been tended to in months.

The hair that once covered her face blocking it from view from the world was now being parted by that same unseen force showing her face clearly.

While she wore no makeup she still looked beautiful as her face reminded Mikoto of a porcelain doll.

"So who are you really? Are you another one of those kids who just want to gawk at my house?"

Mikoto stumbled back slightly at the ridiculous question, "Eh!? If you don't want people to stare at your house, stop making all of your lawn ornaments float in the air!"

"But if I don't I'll lose them in the tall grass."

"Then mow your ridiculously sized lawn!"

The girl sighed, "But that's a lot of work. And the last time I requested they cut my lawn they hung up on me."

Mikoto was shocked to the point of being silent. The big menace that they were all expecting to find turned out to be this.

The girl then spun her head to the right and lowered turned her gaze to the tall grass.

Before Mikoto could say a word they both heard Nayuta whining as she was pinned to the ground.

She had been attempting to sneak behind the girl to launch a surprise attack but failed.

"Did you really think you can sneak up on me?"

In the knee-high grass, even Mikoto had trouble finding Nayuta and that was with her yelp, but somehow this girl was able to detect her effortlessly.

"I'm gonna ask you one more time, who are you?"

The girl raised an eyebrow to this question as though she expected the answer to be obvious. "I'm **Aihana Etsu**."

* * *

**Gemstone Research Facility**

"Sending such a helpless girl into the den of a Level 5. I never really pegged you for the type to send a little girl to her death."

Kumokawa sighed at Misaki's ridiculous assessment of the situation, "Relax brat, I read her file myself, she's practically harmless unless you egg her on. The only reason she would fight is if she was antagonized enough. And I think Nayuta is smart enough to realize that. I mean who would actually be dumb enough to purposely annoy someone who could be classified as a human army anyway?"

* * *

"Yuki!Yuki!Yuki!Yuki!Yuki!Yuki!Yuki!Yuki!Yuki!Yuki!"

"Yuki!Yuki!Yuki! Come on! Let's go get Ice cream!"

Accelerator's eyes had actually started twitching from twiddle dees and tweedle dumber's attempts to get him to join them to get ice cream.

Apparently, Kamijou promised Index that he'd get her ice cream if she got Accelerator to join them.

While he wasn't the type to go out murdering every person that annoyed him, he was seriously considering maiming the boy.

"You know what fine! Let's go! If it gets you to shut up I'm all for it!"

"Hooray!"

(God Dammit)

* * *

**Part 2**

**District 19 Floating House**

***BOOM!**BIRI BIRI!**BOOM!**BIRI BIRI!**BOOM!**BIRI BIRI!**BOOM!**BIRI BIRI!**BOOM!**BIRI BIRI!***

***BOOM!**BIRI BIRI!**BOOM!**BIRI BIRI!**BOOM!**BIRI BIRI!**BOOM!**BIRI BIRI!**BOOM!**BIRI BIRI!***

"SAY THAT AGAIN YOU HIKIKOMORI! I DARE YOU!"

"WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL ME, YOU GEKOTAPHILLE!?"

As Kuroko and Nayuta took cover behind the old rusted playground equipment they could hear the explosions echo in the distance.

They both wondered how things could've gone this bad so soon.

At first, everything was going so well once Aihana revealed herself as the **#6** things seemed to calm down.

But everything took a turn for the worst when someone brought up the topic that never should've been brought up.

Their childish tastes.

Both the #3 and #6 were over the intended target demographic when it came to their tastes and they were both pretty sensitive about it.

You'd think the two of them would've bonded over this fact correct?

But that is the exact opposite of what happened.

Shirai doesn't remember who brought it up first as she only remembered how the atmosphere changed into one of a warzone.

One second Nayuta mentioned how they broke her life-sized figurine of Magical Powered Kanamin, the next Aihana took some makeup pouch from Mikoto that had apparently been a **Super Rare** collectible as collateral since she said the figurine was an **Ultra rare** collectible.

Suffice it to say Mikoto did not take to kindly to this.

Shirai doesn't know who threw the first insult and at this point, it really didn't matter who did.

The conversation between them went over both Nayuta's and Shirai's head but it apparently devolved into them calling the others tastes ridiculous.

The tipping point for the entire event was when Aihana chucked the Makeup pouch into the horizon in a fit of rage after one insult hit too close to home.

The situation quickly went downhill from there.

Both of them were Level 5s and both were mad at the other.

Several seconds before the first thunderstruck the earth, Kihara Nayuta stared at this calamity (battle) with near despair.

She could feel the atmosphere trembling just by standing nearby. All the hairs on her body seemed to be standing up.

And above them, Nayuta, who could see and feel the AIM diffusion field, thought that this looked like the end of the world.

All the forces were fluctuating intensively, and it seemed like she was standing in front of a typhoon.

Shirai attempted to call for backup but quickly realized that her phone was smashed to bits against the force of Aihana's previous gravity attack.

They then attempted to take shelter inside the manor to use a phone there. But due to the thunder that struck from the thunderclouds that had suddenly appeared, the area around them had lost all power.

It took all of their courage to attempt to flee the premises but every time they went outside some piece of debris of a stray electrical spear stopped them.

Due to Aihana's very presence, Shirai was essentially crippled in her use of her ability.

Shirai's ability was called **Teleport**. It was not limited to three-dimension rules, so she could move about freely within space using 11th-dimensional calculations.

However, there was a weakness in this ability. Though the phrase "to teleport within space" sounded simple, the theory behind it was to get away from the three dimensions, find her position in the 11th-dimension, and then calculate the vectors to teleport.

However, there was another factor in her calculations she had to find before teleporting, **Gravity**.

Gravity was a key factor to take into account to use her ability but since it always remained a constant and could never change under normal circumstances Shirai never worried about it before today.

And it was because of this that she finds herself hiding behind a rusted down playground.

Nayuta had no luck either using her abilities on Aihana either, as every attempt she did take was just met with Aihana looking upset and Nayuta kissing the ground as the gravity surrounding her increased tenfold.

But truth be told if either of these girls were truly out for blood the spectators wouldn't have survived as long as they did, but since this was more of a petty dispute, they were safe for now.

"J-Judgement Onee-san what do we do!? It took us forever just to get here safely you can't expect us to run from here through deadman's land!?"

Shirai poked her head over the rusted playground equipment and could see Mikoto continually blasting thunderbolts at Aihana only to be stopped by her forcefield.

From what Shirai read in class, **Gravitons** were once a hypothetical particle that was thought to be responsible for carrying the force of gravity in the same way that **Photons** were responsible for communicating all electromagnetic forces.

Since Shirai had a basic grasp on Mikoto's power she knew that she had limited control over photons in the sense that she both emitted and perceived them without the need for any specialized equipment. This was probably the reason as to why she was still able to stand properly while the rest of them were at Aihana's mercy.

"Look I know it's not ideal, but I can't teleport as long as Aihana is within range of me and I have no idea how far that is."

Nayuta nodded, "I can't tell either, it's the same as when I observed Sogiita-san, her AIM Diffusion Field is so erratic it's like it has a mind of its own."

Before either of the girls could come up with a strategy, horror painted their faces as they saw bluish sparks start to emit from the rusted playground equipment before it was ripped out of the ground and pulled into the air before being chucked towards Aihana.

As always the playground equipment stood no chance against that seemingly invincible forcefield and shattered upon impact, but that didn't stop Mikoto from trying and using the debris from it to continuously strike her.

Without shelter and without cover both Judgement agents choose the best option available to them.

They ran as fast as they could out of there.

* * *

**Part 3**

Mikoto never thought she could be so pissed off at somebody before today. But that all changed the moment she threw her Gekota Makeup pouch into the distance.

"Take back what you said hikikomori, and I might just forgive you!"

"I won't take back what I said! Besides, why should I even apologize!? You were the one who broke it!"

A tick mark appeared on Mikoto's head, "Then I'll forcefully twist that stiff mouth of yours until you do!"

Saying what sounded like a line from a villain, Mikoto increased the power output from her entire body.

The sky was covered with dark clouds.

Seemingly in concert with the trails of electricity surrounding Mikoto, the skies were lit with lightning.

***BOOOOOOOM!***

"Fufu, you already tried that before, remember?"

Once again the full bombardment of a concert of thunderstrikes couldn't penetrate that damned shield.

"BULL! That was lighting speed! There is no way in hell you could've calculated your shield in time to protect yourself from the infrared heat!"

Aihana then tilted her head, "Calculations? What'd you mean?"

"Eh!? Are you telling me you didn't do any calculations to block that!?"

Aihana rubbed the back of her head, "I mean not really. I'm a Gemstone so none of us really have any need for that stuff. Ever since I can remember I always knew how to use my powers."

It all seemingly clicked for Mikoto as it made sense to her.

Gemstones were born with their powers so it would make logical sense that they would have an innate understanding in it, unlike espers who were given their powers later in life.

What brought more validity to this theory was how someone like Sogiita and Kamijou were able to do high-end equations as though it was nothing but a…..Gut feeling.

"Hmph. I'll give you this if nothing else your pretty resilient to attacks, but in the end, your gonna lose."

"Huh? Where you get that idea?"

Mikoto smirked with a fearless grin, "Gravity is the weakest force out of the 4 fundamental forces. Do you know why that is?"

Aihana couldn't understand the question so she stayed silent as she kicked the grass around.

"It's because out of all of them Gravitons are the most limited on what they could do."

***BIRI BIRI***

Using her simplified version of Rampage Dress Mikoto swiftly closed the distance between the two.

Right as she was about to make contact, she felt the air pressure around them change drastically.

In a split second, she flung herself across the field using the magnetic force of the remains of the playground equipment.

***BOOM!***

Halfway across Mikoto could see air congregate in one place in front of Aihana before it was shot out with a force that rivaled a jet engine.

All of this happened so fast that even Aihana wasn't sure as to what had exactly happened.

"Huh!? How the…"

Though sheer instincts alone Aihana's powers worked to protect her even without her knowledge of being in danger in the first place.

The two of them took a breath.

Though Mikoto had thrown the most powerful and complex attacks throughout the entire fight she was unable to break down Aihana's simple but seemingly invincible barrier.

Mikoto continued to scan the battlefield to find something that could help her when she saw that same lawn ornaments still floating in the air.

"So throughout this whole fight, you thought it was necessary to keep your dumb lawn ornaments floating?" Mikoto spat out.

Aihana motioned her finger towards herself as if she was signaling the ornaments to come to her.

"Mhmm, I'm not doing anything, that's just how my ability works. I'm able to distort the personal gravity of whatever I make contact with."

She then proceeded to lightly tap a solid steel ornament and Mikoto saw as it immediately sunk itself into the earth.

"See I just increased this thing personal gravity by 30 times earth's natural gravity. So even if it left my range of influence it would still be affected."

She then lightly tapped another ornament that was made out of plastic and Mikoto watched as dirt and small pebbles began orbiting it.

"I can also give things more gravitons so to give it its own gravitational field so it can attract nearby matter."

Mikoto began stretching as she continued to watch Aihana tap the other lawn ornaments, she liked to talk and given the fact that she was a shut-in with no real friends that didn't surprise her.

After talking to her Mikoto could tell she wasn't that bad of a person and knew for a fact that this girl was no mastermind behind some big plot.

"Hey, Aihana-"

Darting her head to the side she motioned her finger down, "Give me a second."

In the distance, Mikoto could hear both Shirai and Nayuta as they were slammed face-first into the dirt once again.

"Sorry about that my powers are like kryptonite to teleporters. If they don't fully get out of my range they could seriously hurt themselves."

"How big is your range?"

Aihana scratched her head, "Normally its 10 meters but when I'm using my powers like this it can reach around 200 meters. I can usually control it well enough to lower it to like 5 but I rather not get shocked."

Mikoto rolled her eyes, "Okay then break time over," Mikoto then went into her shorts and pulled out an arcade token.

"EH!? B-But I thought we were-"

"I don't think I properly introduced myself earlier,"

A soft metal sound could be heard.

It was the sound of Mikoto flicking a coin with her thumb. The coin slowly, slowly, flipped above Mikoto.

Mikoto said, "My names Mikoto Misaka the Railgun of Tokiwadai-"

It was at this moment Aihana realized who she was dealing with.

The coin returned back to Mikoto's thumb as she said, "Pleasure to meet you."

At that moment...

The one hit by Mikoto, also known as the Railgun, caused the coin to travel at three times the speed of sound. It heated up due to the friction with air, forming an orange laser as it shot out towards the girl.

"HIEEEE!"

* * *

**Part 4**

**326 Ice cream**

"See Yuki was that so bad?"

The silver-haired nun smiled as she waited for Touma to return with their ice creams.

However, all Accelerator could do was shake his head at the ridiculousness of the situation.

It was only a few weeks ago that he was constantly fighting to the death against the clones of a certain Level 5 in the hopes of achieving Level 6.

And now he finds himself sitting at a table with some Nun dressed in a snowy white nun's habit with gold embroidery.

It did look rather extravagant, but for some reason, the seams were patched with safety pins.

"Hey what's with all the safety pins? Are you trying to go for that iron maiden look?"

"..." (***Sniff***)

It had seemed that he had stumbled upon a sore subject.

"In Japanese, we call it a bed of needles."

Right as he was about to continue Kamijou appeared with Ice cream in hand.

"Hey, guys I'm-"

He was met with Index glaring at him for some unknown reason.

"Uhh, what's wrong?"

Her glare seemed to fade away as he slowly put her cone in her hand as carefully as a bomb defuser cuts a wire.

"So Yuki do you have any plans for the summer? Anything fun?"

Accelerator laid back in his chair, "Nothing much in terms of fun, once I get out of the hospital I'll probably be going back to the experiments I was a part of before."

As Academy City was a city that focused primarily on the advancements of its technological superiority being 30 years ahead of any other nation in the world it didn't surprise Kamijou to hear that Accelerator was taking apart in one of these.

"Owww! Touma my head hurts!" The silvery haired Nun said as she gripped her head in what seemed to be agony.

The boy named Kamijou Touma let out a small smirk.

For you see the reason why he invited Index to go get Ice cream was to test a theory of his. This theory being if the Nun in training known as Index could get a Brain Freeze

As Academy City was at the forefront of most technological innovations it was home to companies who would often use the students to test products that would later be released to the rest of the world. One of these products was Ice Cream.

The product in particular he had was an experimental series known as **sphenopalatine ganglioneuralgia **more commonly known as Brain Freeze.

Normally Kamijou wouldn't be so cold as to purposely put Index in harm's way and this wasn't that. The series was released as a part of a line of Ice cream for those thrill-seekers of the world who wanted to get a brain freeze while eating as little as possible.

It was part of that fad just as eating cinnamon was a few years ago had been. Except, in this case, it was harmless as all the ice cream did was Cool the capillaries of the sinuses by an enhanced cold stimulus in the Ice cream.

The Ice cream itself was delicious and had fewer calories than it normally should which made it a popular attraction here since getting a Brain Freeze was a rite in every good summer.

Kamijou warned Index before they even arrived to eat slowly or else she would be the victim of a Brain Freeze, but as always she brushed him off.

Now as she clutched her head and began to whine Kamijou Touma could only shake his head.

"Looks like I finally found your Kryptonite Index! Your Achilles heel! It seems not even your seemingly invincible appetite can withstand cold foods!"

As the brain freeze lessened Index could only stare at Kamjou as he made his declaration to the world.

That lasted for all of 10 seconds before she found herself mauling on his skull.

The #1 could only shake his head at how dumb the situation he was apart of had now become.

Only one thought really ran through his head as he watched Kamijou run up and down the street in the hopes of getting free from her Jaws of death.

(Why'd you have to announce your plan like some cliché villain?)

* * *

**Part 5**

***BOOOOOM!**BOOOOOM!**BOOOOOM!**BOOOOOM!***

The situation quickly escalated as now the Railgun of Tokiwadai was firing off the equivalent of a ballistic missile at the seemingly invincible shield.

Now mind you each of these attacks weren't used haphazardly as even the #3 had a limit on how much energy she had available to her. These shots were more to test out the true durability of the shield.

Aihana had mentioned previously that her shield could withstand the force of a thermal bomb so Mikoto was just trying to see if her claims were true.

For the most part, they were, though judging from her reaction from her first Railgun it had seemed that even she was hesitant on being able to withstand that much force.

In fact, from Mikoto's point of view, Aihana had never really been in a fight.

It was from the way she sluggishly moved around the field and how her reaction time was slower than it should be in order to protect herself from these attacks.

If this were an RPG, Mikoto would have been a Spear type hero with incredibly high stats in both Attack and agility while Aihana, on the other hand, would be a Shield type hero with a broken stat in Defense.

In truth, Aihana had lost the will to take part in this fight after the first Railgun was launched towards her at Mach 3 speeds. The reason for this was simple.

Even if you had a broken amount of defense, it didn't really make a difference if you had no attack power whatsoever.

Aihana had played enough video games and read enough Light Novels to know that this fight wasn't gonna end pretty.

She turned her head away from the fight to look at her surroundings.

A crater several meters in diameter, one that was comparable to the craters on the moon, was made. Even the dust floating in the air was blown away by the impact of her Railgun.

Aihana had no real experience in fighting anyone whatsoever as she was mostly a pacifist. Her power seemed to complement this trait as she could avoid any fight entirely by just stopping the attacker where they were or just defending until they gave up.

However, in this case, her ability to control gravitons didn't help much at all as The Railgun seemed to be immune to her main form of attack.

She had tried to pick up debris from the ground in the hopes of throwing it at her, but Mikoto always moved like lighting and casually dodged them and even caught them with her electromagnetism just to throw them back at her.

At this point, it was more a contest of stamina to see who would hold out the longest.

Mikoto gritted her teeth as she saw no results of her multiple Railguns.

(Damn are all Gemstones this broken!? She's not even looking at me and still, she's blocking all of my attacks! I thought Kamijou was bad but she takes the cake!)

Aihana turned her head to see Mikoto's glare as it pierced through even her defense.

It had seemed something had upset her.

Aihana went to go say something to her and said

"- - - fighting?" (Can we stop fighting?)

Mikoto tilted her head in confusion at her statement.

No, it was more of how she said it.

Her lips moved but no sound came from them, the only part of that she could hear was the last word.

It wasn't as though they were in the middle of a busy city and outside noises were blocking her hearing, it was as though Aihana had muted herself.

Suddenly it all clicked inside of Mikoto's head.

Aihana's ability was strong in defense to the point of being obnoxious, but why was that?

It wasn't as though she spent endless night refining her technique it was out of pure instincts.

Those instincts while very sharp and perceptive to danger were just that, basic instincts.

Mikoto went into her shorts and pulled out one of the pachinko balls that Touma had gifted her prior and took aim at Aihana.

Instead of using the full force of a Railgun, however, she shot it towards Aihana as slow as she could.

The reason for this was simple as it was her key to victory.

As the small orange laser touched the shield it didn't immediately break upon impact.

No, it began circling Aihana like the moon orbits around the earth.

If you follow Einstein's theory of general relativity then gravity has no direct effect on electromagnetic waves itself.

Gravity, however, affects space-time itself warping it towards the gravity source. Thus any electromagnetic waves passing close enough to the gravity source will bend towards that source when observed from the outside.

This was the theory Mikoto used to base this attack from.

As the Pachinko ball had a natural sphere-like shape it made spinning around her that much easier while wasting as little energy as possible.

After a few seconds, the Pachinko ball melted and evaporated into nothingness and Aihana was left clueless as to what just happened.

Aihana checked on her surroundings again. She was oddly out of breath and didn't understand as to why. She could defend against any attack and this one was even weaker than normal the only noteworthy thing about it was the fact that it orbited around her.

Without giving her another chance to think Mikoto shot and Pachinko Ball towards Aihana and received the same result.

Aihana was going to say something when she realized that she couldn't breathe correctly.

As Aihana continued to clutch her throat in the hopes of getting air Mikoto continued to fire of Pachinko balls towards her that all resulted in the same thing.

Before long, Aihana was beginning to see black dots in her vision as she couldn't breathe whatsoever.

While no attack would reach Aihana, that did not change the fact that she was a human that breathed in oxygen and breathed out carbon dioxide. If all the oxygen were removed from her surroundings, she would suffer from oxygen deprivation just like everyone else would.

Mikoto had realized this when she witnessed Aihana attempt to speak for the first time.

The reason as to why she was able to block all her attacks was because her ability passively protected her from all foreign substances however this included oxygen.

In truth, her ability could protect her from a thermal bomb and probably more, but that was only because of her shield that could block everything from reaching her. Including the scolding hot air.

As Aihana was never truly the victim of suffocation before she made a common mistake that most do when suffocating.

She panicked.

While her shield surrounded her body in a perfect sphere protecting her from all angles, she did not have the calculation abilities or the foresight to put small air holes on it.

Perhaps this was for the best since while this was going on Mikoto was using her ability to break down the oxygen surrounding Aihana with electricity.

In any case, as Aihana had no experience in fighting since she always let her ability do all the work for her, it was for this reason that she was suffocating.

Right as the last Pachinko ball was about to be fired towards her Aihana collapsed to her back and fell unconscious.

Not being a cold-hearted person Mikoto stopped breaking down the oxygen in the air so the poor girl could finally breathe.

Mikoto turned her head to see all of the damage they had done and saw that most if not all of Aihana's lawn was unearthed or burned to a crisp from their (Her) fighting.

"Well, I guess you don't have to call a mowing service anymore."

* * *

**Part 6**

"Gbah?" These were the first words to escape Aihana's mouth as she woke up on a train car headed for some unknown destination.

She looked around and realized that she was surrounded by the same home invaders that broke into her home the first time.

It seemed that they had kidnapped her.

"A-Are you gonna kill me?" This was an obvious concern for her as she did not want to die.

The girl who wore a very distinctive Tokiwadai uniform who also seemed to look like she'd fit in an elementary school glared at her.

"No, but if you do anything like that again Onee-sama won't be as forgiving."

(Onee-sama?)

Aihana attempted to get up from the bench she had been laying on and quickly saw that there were no other passengers on this train car other than them. The Train car was automatic as it did not need a driver since the path it would be taking would always be the same.

The train seemed oddly familiar to her but she couldn't quite place it.

The girl who identified herself as the #3 earlier spoke up, "We didn't know what to do with you when you fell unconscious but then Nayuta mentioned that she was sent out to look for you so we're bringing you to the Gemstone Facility."

Aihana looked outside the train and saw the barren surrounding that the train car drove by.

As she began to sit up straight in her seat she noticed the little blonde girl stare intensely at her as if she was trying to see something.

"Ummm,"

Mikoto was the first to speak up, "She's been doing that ever since we got here."

Aihana began to move her seat over to be as far away as she could from that weird child.

"Wait, how'd you get me here if I was unconscious?"

"We carried you."

"And nobody stopped you!?"

Shirai was the first to present her Judgement armband.

"THAT DOESN'T GIVE YOU THE RIGHT TO KIDNAP PEOPLE!"

* * *

After some convincing (Threatening) Aihana joined them inside.

The atmosphere changed from the last time she came here but that was over 7 years ago so it didn't surprise her.

What did surprise her was when they took her to see the Overseer of the Facility.

From what she remembered it was some old man who had a name that was either too long or to plain for her to bother to remember, but now it was some third-year Highschool girl with a messy office.

"W-Who are you?"

The Highschool girl spoke with a kind but straightforward tone, "My name is Kumokawa Seria, and I'm the Overseer of this facility and by extension the person responsible for your welfare," She then turned to Mikoto and said, "Thank you so much for bringing her to me."

"It was no problem really though we didn't find what we were looking for in particular."

Kumokawa raised an eyebrow, "And what exactly were you two looking for?"

Shirai sighed as she pointed to Aihana, "Any leads on the Poltergiesting case. But from what we could tell 'this one' doesn't have anything to do with it."

Kumokawa could only sigh, "Tell me is your phone off or broken?"

From the look on Shirai's face, she was surprised that she knew.

"Well, then I'll let you use the phone in the conference room later to call your office so they can fill you in on the bigger details. For now, I'll tell you this. You're looking in the wrong place. Do you remember who was the mastermind behind the Level Upper incident."

Mikoto was the first to jump in "Kiyama-sensei…...But she's still in prison."

Kumokawa simply shook her head, "From the email, I got this morning it seems as though she is out on bail."

All the girls looked surprised save for Aihana who had no idea who this was.

"How is that possible!? Who bailed her out!?"

"Truthfully I don't know, but they messaged everyone who was charged with overseeing High powered espers, of her release. Since she had a habit of using Espers to further her agenda we were all advised to take precautions as to not have a repeat of that incident."

Mikoto and Nayuta clenched their fists when they heard this but surprisingly Shirai seemed to be relieved.

As though she wanted to hear this.

"By the way from the footage on the train, it looked as though Aihana-san was unconscious? What was all of that?"

Before Aihana could speak up Shirai cut her off, "She attacked all of us and proceeded to battle Onee-sama and lose. You should really take better care of the Gemstones and teach them not to be so barbaric"

"YOU LIAR! DON'T TRY TO MANIPULATE THE TRUTH TO MAKE YOURSELVES LOOK LIKE THE VICTIM!"

As if by instinct, Shirai found herself kissing the floor of the office as gravity increased around her.

For the most part, Nayuta and Mikoto were pretty desensitized from this as they saw her do it plenty of times when she was frustrated so they didn't have much of a reaction.

However, Kumokawa Seria who had never actually seen her in person and had only read about her was in shock.

Now it wasn't 'shocked' at the fact that Shirai might've been injured, no.

She was not that kind, it was the type of shock like she was seeing something once again.

(Another troubled child.)

Like a teacher scolding a student, Kumukawa pointed her finger at her "Aihana-san you shouldn't do-"

Maybe it was the heat of the moment.

Maybe it was the fact that she had so much pent up stress that particular day.

But for whatever reason, it didn't change the words that exited Aihana's mouth.

"Don't tell me what to do you **old hag**!"

Time seemed to slow down for everyone there as they processed the words that she had just said.

Mikoto's mouth gaped open as she slowly turned to Kumokawa.

That was when the cruel side of Kumokawa Seria reared its ugly head.

* * *

"***SUPER AMAZING GRAVITY PUNCH!***"

"GYAHHHHHHH! Wait…! Huh, what's happening? Eh, you can't be serious! No! No…! Hold on! Please! Please! STOP! I'm SORRY"

Aihana panicked with tears in her eyes; she was a mess.

Once the comment settled in Kumokawa took her to the testing grounds in the center of the facility to get a sense of her ability (Punishment Time).

Apparently, she had someone she wanted her to meet.

When she arrived she was met with some guy who wore a White uniform and wore Japan's rising sun on his shirt.

It took her all of 5 seconds to realize what was going on.

The moment a bell was sounded the boy punched towards her and colorful explosions filled the area.

As Aihana's primary ability was focused on defensive she was unharmed but that all changed when she heard him begin to pound on the walls of her forcefield with the force to rival Mikoto's Railgun.

At first, Aihana tried to pin him down by increasing his gravity my 15 times.

But that failed to she increased it to 20.

But that failed to so she increased it again to 30.

You see where this was going.

Though the boy wasn't immune to her powers like Mikoto was that didn't change the fact that he quickly adapted to the situation and began beating the walls of her force field.

She didn't have the heart to increase his gravity any more (not that it would've really made a difference) so all she could do was watch while he continued to bombard the shield with explosion after explosion.

"Please stop! I'm begging you here! Mercy! Mercy! Please stop!"

Her pleas for mercy fell on deaf ears (literally) as her own shield prevented her words from actually reaching Sogiita.

Aihana quickly went for the walkie talkie Kumokawa had given her to call for assistance.

* * *

The girls could only stare in shock as they saw Aihana begin to have a panic attack while Sogiita continued to blast her seemingly invincible shield testing out its true durability.

However, there were two in that room in particular who enjoyed what they were watching.

Their names were Shirai Kuroko and Kumokawa Seria.

Nayuta could only weakly comment as she watched the carnage unfold from inside the safety of Kumokawa's office "D-Don't you think you're taking this a little bit too far?"

The two who enjoyed this spectacle shook their heads.

"Ever hear about the big fish in the little pond."

Nayuta nodded.

"Well think of this like I'm putting that Big fish in the ocean and watching it be humbled by getting chased around by a shark."

Nayuta could only shudder from this response.

"KUMOKAWA-SENPAI! KUMOKAWA-SENPAI! KUMOKAWA-SENPAI! PLEASE HELP I'M SO SORRY!"

Kumokawa casually picked up the walkie talkie.

While Aihana's shield was invincible to most forms of harmful attacks it had seemed that Radio waves could get through even if it was only a bit.

"I'm sorry, who are you talking too?"

Aihana's face paled, "K-Kumokawa-senpai?"

"No….sama."

All the girls in the room save for Kuroko were shocked.

"B-But…...GYHAAAAAAA! The shield is creaking! It's creaking! The shield is making weird sounds!"

Aihana screamed inside her seemingly invincible shield for only them to hear.

"PLEASE KUMOKAWA-SENPAI"

(Defiant till the end.)

"I'm sorry I think you have the wrong number. I'm gonna have to disconnect to you now, I hope you have a pleasant day."

That sweet-sounding voice didn't match the implications that would've occurred if she really cut off her only lifeline.

Aihana fell into a panic in tears, pacing about while hugging her head. Her waist-length hair was a mess. She looked crazy right now.

"OKAY! PLEASE KUMOKAWA-SAMA PLEASE SAVE ME! I'M SO SORRY!"

Kumokawa could only grin as she disconnected the line.

"Okay, so which one of you wants to go there and open the door for her to come back in.

Mikoto nodded as she ran to the said door.

* * *

"***Sob***… Ugh, ugh– WAHH!"

"Ugh… ***Sob***… Thank, thank you… Misaka, thank you…! WAHHH…!"

Aihana had been crying non-stop ever since Mikoto dragged her out of the Lion's Den.

Even a Level 5 couldn't stand the horror of being prey.

Nayuta could only shake her head while looking downtrodden.

Shirai noticed this and asked 'what's wrong?'

"They say you shouldn't meet your heroes…...I didn't know that applied to your friend's heroes too…***Sigh***"

Kuroko nodded, "Well why don't we head back to the office."

Aihana could only bring her head up, "B-But what about me, my house was completely destroyed."

Kumokawa shook her finger towards the girl, "Oh you won't be living there anymore. Underage students aren't allowed to live by themselves in Academy City."

"B-But what about my stuff?"

"..."

The silence all but flat out told her that she didn't care.

"I already set up a room for you to live in the facility until we can make more permanent arrangements."

The eyes of Aihana looked dead.

"***Sniff***"

Mikoto could only pat her on the back, "Hey look on the bright side."

"My house is destroyed so I'm homeless and I'm stuck living in this wannabe sports arena, what's the bright side?"

"You can say you gave the Railgun of Tokiwadai a tough time."

* * *

**Part 7**

Once Touma and company finally finished their ice cream they were beginning to make their way back home.

The first stop was Yuki since he was the only one with a real curfew.

"Hey, I know that person."

Index and Accelerator turned their heads to see a woman with wavy brown hair who had very noticeable bags under her eyes.

"Hey teach! Haven't seen you around, how's it going?"

The woman is known as Kiyama Harumi and she was the researcher behind the Level Upper incident that caused over 10,000 students to enter into a coma.

However, at the time of her arrest, Touma was being treated for a broken wrist so he didn't see her actually get arrested.

In all honesty, the days proceeding were so hectic that Kamijou never really read up on the news, so he had no idea that she was guilty of anything. To him, she was just some teacher trying to end it all.

"Oh, it's you, I'm fine though I'm surprised to see you here."

"Touma who's this?"

"Hmmm. She was somebody I helped out of a really tight spot a little while ago."

His words couldn't be any more right, if it wasn't for him 10,000 students would've died that day, but because of his infamous Imagine Breaker, he saved everyone involved including her.

Kiyama smiled even as the fatigue was catching up to her body.

"He's right, and why are you wearing a Nun's habit. I didn't know Academy City had a theology school."

Index proudly puffed her chest, "Nope my name is Index and as you can see, I'm from the Anglican Church."

Kiyama didn't understand, "Okay…..what about you…..you look familiar?"

She looked at the boy currently named Yuki with confusion.

Before he could say a word Index answered.

"That's Yuki."

"Oh my mistake, it's nice to meet you both."

"Tch!"

He was particularly upset over that fact.

"So what're you doing here?"

Kiyama sighed as she looked at the hospital where her students were being held in.

She had called in a favor from a certain Doctor and had her students transferred here to get their treatment.

But as always, she couldn't find a way to save them.

"Research. I'm trying to find a way to help some of my students."

Touma smiled, "Well I'm sure you'll find whatever you're looking for, you seem pretty smart even if you were doing something that dumb before. In any case, if you need any help don't be afraid to ask. I'm not particularly gifted in science but I'll help you in whatever way I can.

Kiyama couldn't help but lightly smile at this.

"Thank you, but this is something I have to do on my own. It was nice seeing all of you."

They all waved her goodbye as they watched her enter a section of the hospital Touma had never been to before.

"She seems to be doing well, right?"

"She looks like a hot mess to me."

"Yuki! Don't be so mean!"

* * *

**Part 8**

**Judgement Branch Office 177**

As Nayuta, Mikoto, and Shirai finally found their way back to the office they were greeted to Konori-senpai sharing what happened while they were gone.

"THERE WAS ANOTHER POLTERGIESTING!?"

Konorii nodded, "I tried calling you but nothing went through, apparently Uiharu-san and Haruue-san were caught in it and are now both in the hospital, I was gonna call someone over to watch the office while I went to visit them but since you're already here why don't you-"

Before she could finish her sentence Shirai had already teleported out of there with her friends in hand.

"Okay then…."

* * *

**A Certain Hospital**

"Uiharu are you okay!?"

Uiharu smiled as she saw her friends rush in.

"It's nothing just a scrape…..although all of you look a lot worse off than me, what happened?"

Saten nodded, "Yeah you guys look like you jumped in a mud bath with your clothes still on."

True to her words all of the girl's clothing was dirtied from their previous encounter (Fight) and they didn't have time to change yet.

"D-Don't worry about that now, I'm just glad you're okay."

Mikoto looked around the lobby of the hospital and saw it was filled with multiple students who each looked more hurt than she was.

"How bad was it?"

Uiharu grimaced, "Bad…..Luckily M.A.R was there to help all the injured but…..Haruue seemed to be the most affected by it."

"Is she okay?"

Uiharu nodded as she motioned for Shirai to come to her.

"What's wrong Uiharu-san?"

Uiharu looked at the floor as though she had something to say but continued to shift her feet until she clenched her fist.

"I-I don't want to belive it but…...I think Haruue-san might unintentionally be the cause of this…"

Shirai stood there shocked at what she was hearing.

"Right before the incident occurred Haruue started having headaches and saying that she was hearing voices…...I don't think she's doing it on purpose so I checked out her power and saw that her ability clocked in over her level. Maybe...Maybe whoever really is behind all of this is just using her and she has no idea that it's even happening. I don't want to believe that she would have anything to do in something like this, but..," Uiharu bit her lip hard enough to draw a bit of blood, "As a Judgement agent I have to look at every possibility."

Shirai sighed in relief.

"Y-You don't seem upset."

"I'm in a similar mindset as you Uiharu-san, I don't want to believe such a sweet girl could be the cause of this but if we don't look at every possibility we'd be jeopardizing everyone else's safety."

"S-So what do we do now?"

Shirai paced back and forth a bit while thinking out loud, "Poltergiesting is an event that is caused when multiple espers undergo RSPK syndrom….so in theory a Telepath could be the culprit...but at the very least they would have to be a Level 4…."

"I couldn't agree more."

The two Judgement agents turned and saw a woman in a full M.A.R uniform.

She was Therestina Lifeline.

She smiled as she said "Sorry about eavesdropping but I couldn't help overhearing your conversation. Ever since I met you all at the festival I couldn't help but wonder what you were thinking about."

Uiharu looked hesitant to speak.

While she was convinced that Haruue had a part in all of this it didn't change the fact that she was a friend.

Seeing her friend's hesitation Shirai spoke up, "We believe that Haruue Erii might have a role to play in the Poltergiesting Incidents. Even though she's a Level 2 we believe that her powers go beyond that of what she is capable of."

Therestina smiled, "Well judging by how capable of agents you two are I'll take you both at your word. I'll have them transfer her to a M.A.R facility so we can run some tests."

Therestina began walking away as she spoke some order in her walkie and Shirai followed suit only to realize that Uiharu was still standing in that same place.

"Hey, think of this of us proving her innocence."

Uiharu clenched her fist and nodded.

Even though she was well within her right to suspect Haruue.

It didn't change that fact that in her heart she felt as though she was betraying her.

* * *

**M.A.R Headquarters Laboratory**

The trip to the facility was quiet as Uiharu didn't speak much to anyone on the way there.

Shirai explained to them what had happened and they all agreed it was for the best.

The moment Therestina came to see them in the waiting room to bring them to her office to tell them Haruue was cleared it felt like the weight of the world had left Uiharu's shoulder.

Apparently, in addition to being a M.A.R commander, she was also the Director of **M.A.R Laboratories**.

This especially surprised Saten since from the way her office was decorated (childish) she never would've imagined that she was all of those things.

Uiharu was the first to run to Haruue's room to check up on her and would've practically hugged the poor girl to death if it wasn't for her friends who pulled her off.

While none of them knew who the true culprit was, they were all glad that their friend had been cleared.

"I-I'm glad to see you too, Miss Uiharu."

Uiharu smiled as she rummaged through her pockets.

"Here," She had presented her a pendant that Haruue had dropped, "This is important to you, yes?"

Haruue smiled as she opened the pendant, "Mhmh, my dear friend gave it to me."

"The one you lost right? You mentioned her when…."

Haruue nodded, "I can hear her voice sometimes…"

Nayuta nodded, "That sounds like telepathy, is that why you were always acting strangely?"

"Yes, it comes and goes every once in a while, so when it does I don't really know how to react."

Saten was the first to poke her head over the bedridden girl's shoulder, "Is there a picture inside?"

Haruue nodded and showed them all the opened pendant to show them the picture that it held.

"Mmhmm, See, her name is Edasaki Banri."

Both Mikoto and Nayuta's face fell in shock as they recognized the girl in question.

Though they both remembered her through different means, with Nayuta actually meeting her while Mikoto only saw her through another's memories.

They both recognized where it all took place.

Seeing the two in shock Haruue said, "Do you know Banri-chan"

"Well, I…"

Before she could finish Haruue looked at the pendant fondly.

"You know what? I'm just like her, I'm also a Child Error."


	27. Chapter 27 What is it you see?

**Hey, thanks for reading a Certain Scientific Counter. Sorry about the delay. Thank you for everyone who left a review and I'd like to thank my Beta-Reader Graeskog for helping me edit this chapter. Without further ado Q&A**

**awardedall- Thank you for the comment**

**D. N Works - Thank you for the comment. And the Ranking system in Academy City doesn't rank actual combat strength it just ranks their usefulness for achieving SYSTEM. But your right on the money with Aihana not having any combat experience and that being a large part in playing in her losses.**

**Aminadab Brulle- True and your right about the lack of fan art. Thanks for the comment and I'm glad you like the character. And my boy TouMan 'Salt and Sugar'. 2 Yes I am very hyps for that SS I can't wait to see how the three of them met. 3 I like your theory a lot it really makes me smile knowing that people are theorizing what Counter is. And the whole 'doubling' thing is just what a figure of speech. Touma doesn't understand the power well himself and is just assuming it is doubling from his own point of view. Thank you for your comment.**

**Schwarzer- I like the naruto reference and Touma does have access to talk no Jutsu. Thank you for the comment.**

**nameless- We'll get them. Also, you're right about her being self-centered but you also have to realize she has an inflated ego. In her mind, she's invincible and only lost because of Magic. Plus beating another Level 5 in a fight is just going to increase her ego ever so more. A Certain Childish Daycare. And I already have something special planned for that arc but thanks for the good ideas. And we might reach NT if this story gets enough attention.**

**tsun- Your right there, if her power 'was' Gravity manipulation it should be able to do more. But Gemstones are the type of people who have no clue how to describe their own powers. And different strokes for different folks. I just wanted to bring the missing children's arc to an end. And we finally found Index's kryptonite.**

**nameless- I'm glad you like Aihana's character and thank you for the suggestion I just looked that up. And yeah she's going through an unlucky patch right now but she'll soon meet a like-minded individual soon. And a calm date? Heh yeah calm.**

**Rajarshi Sarkar- Nah that's been played to death and the chapter all can't be about just one character besides this is Mikoto's Arc the last time Touma entered one of Mikoto's arcs he solved the problem in a day.**

**Sirius962- пожалуйста (Your Welcome)Спасибо за комментарий (Thanks for the comment) and thank you google translate.**

**Anti-Mage 29- Thank you for the comment, I'm glad you like Aihana's character. And sweet, sweet ice creamy revenge! Now for this chapter.**

**GunsAndMagic- Thank you, and I'm glad you like it.**

* * *

**What is it you see?**

**Part 1**

**M.A.R Laboratories**

Nayuta's eyes widened as she realized she was facing one of the few people who knew Banri-chan.

"Banri-chan and I were at the same Child Error Facility. I'm shy around others so I didn't make that many friends, however, I did become friends with Banri-chan at least, she used to talk with me with her **Telepathy**. However that all changed when she left for her new facility. After that, I didn't hear from her. But recently I can hear the voice again in my head like when we were little."

Haruue looked at her locket with sadness, "S-she's in pain, she's asking for help but I have no idea where she is…"

The bedridden girl had tears rolling off the sides of her face, "I-I wish I could find her but-"

"It's all right!"

All the girls looked over at Uiharu.

"I'm sure we'll find your friend! I'm part of Judgement after all! It's my job to help people so don't cry! You don't want the first thing that she sees to be tears, do you? I promise I'll find her along so in the meantime why don't you try to smile. You don't want to make your friends worry about you right!? Just leave it to me!"

"U-Uiharu-san."

Saten nodded "That's right. Despite how flowery Uiharu looks, she's an excellent Judgement agent."

"Yeah, don't forget that I'm here." Shirai pointed out. "In fact, 3 out of the 5 people that are here are more than qualified Judgement agents, so we'll find her."

Haruue turned her head to see all of them nod in agreement.

"Don't worry Haruue-san we'll find her."

"Yeah so don't cry! You don't want Banri-senpai to see her friend in tears do you!?"

Haruue could feel as her tears begin to well up in her eyes, "***Sob*** T-Thank you!"

For once in a long time, Haruue felt something that she thought she had lost long ago, Hope, hope that she would be able to see her friend again.

"***Sob*** T-Thank you!"

* * *

**Part 2**

Once they finally managed to get Haruue to stop sobbing they got to talking. Apparently, Haruue had never heard of Kiyama-sensei before which made sense since she was never part of that school but they did get some insight on Banri.

Banri was a telepath just like Haruue was except she was a higher level than her and because of that, she was admitted to the special school.

The school was run by a man by the Name **Kihara Gensei. **Apparently, He was a famous researcher in the eyes of Academy City just like everyone else with that family name, but recently it was like he fell off the face of the earth. There was no sighting of him since a few years ago and the only evidence that people have that he's even alive is the fact that he still gets research funds from the city.

It wasn't easy but Haruue did manage to tell them the last time she heard from Banri-chan was when she reached her facility.

It wasn't too hard to track down the facility after that.

Advanced Education Department.

Once nightfall hit Mikoto made her way down to the facility alone. It wasn't as though she didn't trust her friends it was more as though she thought she could get it done quicker without them.

So she put on her disguise which was a white and pink flower shirt along with a frilly pink skirt and a Gekota mask.

Ironically, the whole point of a disguise was to not be seen but everybody's gotta start from somewhere.

* * *

**Advanced Education Department**

Once Mikoto arrived breaking in wasn't an issue.

The building itself was shut down so there were no real security measures to keep out intruders other than a simple lock on the main gate which was easily circumnavigated by her just walking up and over the wall itself.

Once over, all it took was a quick use of her powers on the lock on the door and she was in.

After a bit of wandering around Mikoto, she finally stumbled upon the room where Kihara Gensei performed his experiments. Unfortunately for her, the room was completely barren, everything useful was probably taken out when he left.

However, when she arrived she did notice a flashlight shining in the distance. The look of surprise and anger painted on Mikoto's face when she realized the person on the other end was Kiyama-sensei was something to behold.

"I knew it."

Kiyama turned around to see Mikoto in her unfortunate disguise, she wasn't so much surprised that she found her then she was at what she was wearing.

"Huh? Can I help you with something?"

Misaka clenched her fist, "Were you the one responsible for the latest Poltergeistings!?"

"If I were to say yes, what would you do?"

Sparks of bluish electricity started to fill the air around Mikoto as she spoke, "Stop you, that's what!"

The darkroom the two were in was quickly turned on as Mikoto's unintentional outburst just repowered the building as a whole.

Kiyama-Sensei sighed, sure she was annoyed at the situation, but the combination of sleepless nights and her meeting with the boy who saved her previously mellowed her mood.

"Well that's that, let's get out of here before someone shows up, shall we. I'll give you a ride if to my 'secret lair'" In truth, she was just going along with Mikoto's narrative.

"Huh?"

* * *

**A Certain Hospital**

The drive to Kiyama-Sensei's Lair was awkward, to say the least.

What else would you call someone staring at another person without saying a word the entire ride? Kiyama-Sensei even tried to turn on the radio but every time she even took her hand off the steering wheel the bluish-white sparks would start.

Long story short, 30 minutes on the road later and they both arrived at some hospital Mikoto recognized because she was just admitted there along with 'him'.

"What are we doing here? And why haven't you been talking the entire ride here!?" Mikoto growled out.

Kiyama-Sensei sighed at Mikoto's lack of self-awareness of the situation and continued to lead her to the building

Once inside Mikoto was taken to a large room with a large glass window in the center and on the other side the missing students.

Mikoto started to spark and glared something fierce at the teacher her eyes told her that if she received the wrong answer there would be another person that was going to be added to that room, "**You're responsible for all of this!?**"

"Yes, I am."

***BIRI BIRI!***

At her tipping point, Mikoto was about to unload a high voltage current towards the teacher before she heard a familiar voice calling out to her in the background.

"I'm sorry but can you not do that here. This is a hospital after all so can you refrain from electrical shocks."

Mikoto spun around to see that all too familiar Gekota Doctor.

The doctor quickly explained the situation to her before her anger started to boil over again.

He pulled some strings to get Kiyama-sensei out on bail so he could get help in reviving the students.

As it turns out, Kihara Gensei intended to create an object known as an **Ability Crystal **by collecting neurological secretions of Runaway Espers. Those crystals had the potential to increase the strength of a specially selected, giving researchers the chance to achieve the ultimate goal of Academy City. The chance to create a Level 6 Esper, a person that can achieve SYSTEM, the ability to hold the power of God while in mortal form.

However, due to the experiments performed on the students, they were sent into a coma-like state being unable to wake up without causing RSPK Syndrome to occur in those around them.

The reason why the Poltergeists occurred near Haruue was that she was telepathically linked with Banri and whenever she spoke to her she unintentionally spread RSPK around her and caused a Poltergeists to occur.

It seemed as though Kihara Gensei couldn't care less about the student's well-being as long as he could further science.

Unbelievable," Mikoto growled, clenching her fist, "All this, for what? To further science!?"

I'm doing what I can," the frog faced doctor explained, "I hope that my skills as a doctor will allow me to save them. Luckily, it didn't take too much time to get them all transferred into my care. My name carries a certain amount of weight in the town."

"That's how you made bail," Mikoto turned to Kiyama.

"He did me a great favor," Kiyama confirmed, "I'll be forever grateful. Thankfully, thanks to my access to this facility, I have a rough idea of how to revive them."

For a brief moment, hope flashed in Mikoto's eyes, "You can really do that?"

"Unfortunately, there is a problem,"

Mikoto clicked her tongue.

"Like he explained before I can't wake them up without them becoming Runaway Espers and it'll spread across Academy City tearing it down, I'm developing a program to bring their abilities under control, but I need the data on the First Sample, the original Ability Crystal formed from the first human test subject of the experiment, to complete the vaccine program. I went to the laboratory to look for that data, but I couldn't find it. I know it's out there somewhere. It's too important for them to just throw it away. I'll do whatever it takes to find it, I swear."

"And what if you still can't find it?" Mikoto asked.

"Then I'll ask someone I know for help. No matter what it takes, I'm going to wake them up!"

Mikoto had an unconvinced look painted on her face, while she seemed like she was doing a good thing from the way things were playing out so far it seemed as though Kiyama-sensei would wake them up even if she couldn't find the **First Sample**.

Mikoto sighed, "I don't trust you. The last time I did you took Uiharu hostage and went on a rampage across the City almost ending up killing 10,000 students just for a chance to use Tree Diagram."

"I completely agree."

They all turned around to see a familiar person standing right by the door.

Therestina and several MAR Powered Suits revealed themselves behind, "I'm afraid I'll be taking these children into my custody now."

Kiyama-sensei shuddered as she began to put herself between her and the students.

"H-How?"

Therestina smiled as she turned to Mikoto, "Sorry, but I followed you here," She then presented a warrant which allowed her to take the students into custody. "Now if you'll please step aside."

Once they confirmed that it was genuine desperation started to take hold of Kiyama-sensei.

She was so close to saving her students. She was just one sequence away from being able to design a program to save them. All she needed was The First Sample.

"Don't worry, we're specialists when it comes to lifesaving, we even have a facility that'll be able to take care of the students."

Kiyama-sensei didn't know why, but something in her mind told her not to trust her.

Kiyama attempted to protest as the Powered Suits approached the children but was stopped by Mikoto who was stretching out her arms in front of her.

"What are you doing!?"

"You said that if you didn't like what you were doing, to stop you."

Let me go, I'm the only one that can save them!" Kiyama demanded.

"But you haven't, have you?!" Mikoto yelled, stopping the former teacher in her tracks, "First it was the Level Upper. Now it's these Poltergeist Attacks. And still, you haven't saved a single one of them."

"I'm so close though," Kiyama begged, "I'm just one step away…. I have to."

Mikoto glared at her, "You think you're the only one who can save these kids!? How arrogant do you have to be to think that!? Right now as we speak Edaski-san is begging her friend Haruue to save her."

Kiyama-sensei fell to her knees at that revelation.

After years of research, she was given proof that her students could be saved. She was given proof that they were still fighting to wake up.

She wasn't wrong when she called her arrogant if she only asked for help sooner maybe it wouldn't have come to this. Maybe if she asked that one student for help she wouldn't be here right now.

With no more obstacles or objections, MAR took the unconscious children into their custody.

* * *

**Part 2**

**August 7**

**Gemstone Facility**

The Third year High School known as Kumokawa Seria student tilted her head suspiciously as she stared at the star-eyed girl, "Why are you here?"

"Huh? Why shouldn't I be here?~"

"You heard that we found the 6th Level 5 and realized that since she was a shut-in she wasn't enrolled in any school, right?"

Misaki waved that accusation off, "What's the harm in a proud student promoting her school to another."

Kumokawa shook her head in pure annoyance, "How'd you even hear about it? I doubt The Ace of Tokiwadai told you."

"Oh~ I have my sources✩"

In truth, Index told her after Saten told her what Mikoto was up to that day.

Truth be told even she was shocked to hear that they actually found her but surprisingly less shocked when she heard Mikoto had tried to fight her. And from what Saten described the fight was a near stalemate.

"Besides even if she declines, it's always good to network."

"You're a really bad influence on 'him'."

"What was that?"

Kumokawa sighed, "Nevermind, if you wanna talk to her go ahead. But I have to tell you a few things before you meet her so you don't become another victim."

"Yes, Yes I know. Don't actively go threaten the poor girl or I'll be crushed by who knows how much gravity. Though honestly, I've never seen someone with Gravitokinesis that powerful before."

"Wait, what?"

"Hmm? She has Gravitokinesis right?"

Kumokawa narrowed her eyes at the girl, "Who told you she can control gravity?"

"My 'source' she said that they were pinned down by some unseen force. The girl even admitted herself that she could control gravity."

Kumokawa shook her head while uncharacteristically clenching her fists, "Never trust a Gemstone to explain their powers."

"What?"

"Do you know what that moron says his power is?"

"Um..no-"

She was cut off. It seemed as though she had struck a nerve of some kind.

"'I can gather the Earth's magnetic field into my hand through telekinesis and use that electromagnetic field to divert the electric flow and energy to channel my power' That's how he explains his powers."

"But, that it is impossible by physics"

"I know, right! He even told me that he can sense his own 'Guts' whenever he makes an attack and that the colors that appear out of nowhere, I might add you are his 'Guts' manifested in reality for the world to behold!"

"I can see that I struck a nerve. So if her power isn't Gravity manipulation, then what is it?"

Kumokawa shrugged, "I don't know."

"Huh?"

"I'm not omniscient you know. I have no clue what her ability is. From the file that was on her when she was first admitted here 7 years ago, she had telekinesis. But even that didn't check out since it should've clocked in with the AIM Scanner."

"Wait so she's telekinetic?"

"Mmmm...More like she can control psychic energy? Personally, I think she has the perfect set of powers to be a shut-in. All Gemstone abilities are esoteric in nature. Unlike espers, their Personal Realities are flexible being able to change on a drop of a hat. It's like once you get above **Emerald** you have Multi-Skill."

"Is that how she's able to manipulate gravity?"

Kumokawa nodded, "A few years ago she was involved in a…...questionable experiment, to say the least, in order to prove if Gravitons were real. To make a long story short they made her believe that she could grab Gravitons with her powers and eventually she did."

Misaki raised an eyebrow to this, "What kind of experiment?"

"...Let's just say it wasn't pleasant for her whatsoever. If you wanna meet her go ahead, I think my sister is just about done seeing her."

Misaki's eyes lit up, "Ohh~ She's here I see. That last time I remember seeing her was when-"

"Stop it."

"She challenged Touma to a food battle"

Kumokawa shook her head remembering that embarrassing day.

It was the last year before Touma was ever in a relationship, Maria stopped by her school to see her. She made one off-handed comment on how she enjoyed Touma's cooking and she took it as an insult.

Her pride as a maid-in-training from Ryouran Maid School made it so she couldn't let this go. She remembers how she barged straight into his classroom and challenged him right then and there.

After a very heated battle, Maria lost and became somewhat depressed afterward, honestly from Seria's perspective, it was like watching a professional boxer fight an amateur while they cooked.

The whole experience was embarrassing, to say the least for Seria as she watched as her sister come back every day only to get the same results.

It got to the point where he would climb out the window of his class to avoid her. Lucky for him his class was on the first floor that year. Unluckily for her, it put her plans on hold until she could get her sister to back off.

"***Sigh***"

Misaki smiled, "Hey at least we got to eat delicious food."

"Is that seriously how you rationalize that situation? I still get the occasional question from her asking where he is."

"...I don't see any problem with that."

"You just want to be the judge to eat the food. Don't you?"

Misaki shamelessly nodded.

"***Sigh***, Of course, you would. Anyways when you go to see Aihana be sure not to try to control her. I'd hate to have to pretend to cry at your funeral."

Misaki shrugged, "I never had any intention of trying to control the poor girl. I mean she's gone through enough already hasn't she. Having her home destroyed by Misaka-san must've been rough." She then waved her off and walked in the direction of the living quarters of the Facility.

* * *

Aihana's day was going about as good as you could expect with being plunged into a new environment.

Ever since Misaka destroyed her house and outed that she was living alone she was stuck staying at the Gemstone Facility. It wasn't all bad though since her room was twice the size of her old bedroom with modern fashion designs and even came with its own bathroom. Her old house was just some house she had renovated. She bought the house when she was fairly young so she didn't have much design input whatsoever before and only started decorating it afterward.

The only real bad thing about moving here was she had nothing but the clothes on her back. Seriously she didn't even have time to grab her phone before Misaka kidnapped her and brought her here. The new problem she was facing was finding what to wear.

After yesterday she wandered the facility trying to get her bearings while trying to avoid the researchers as much as she could and just passed out on her new bed.

So today when she woke up, she felt gross since she had nothing to change into. She wanted to ask Kumokawa for a change of clothes but thought it best not to bother the girl who almost sent her out to be eaten by some monster the day before over calling her names.

Aside from the psychological trauma, there was no damage worth mentioning from that 'meeting'. So she continued to wander the facility in her sleepwear trying to find someone to help with her situation,

It wasn't until she felt a tap on her shoulder that she found someone she could talk to.

She had long black hair in ringlet curls and a moderate chest size. She wore a maid outfit that had a yellow-based color. The outfit itself had a mini-skirt, black thigh-high socks, frills a nameplate in the shape of a rabbit attached to her skirt, and a black corset.

Apparently, the moment she saw her, the maid in training thought she was some vagrant who wandered in. Which technically was true but didn't make her feel any better about her situation. Once she cleared that up the girl was nice. Sure she was a bit prideful but it was one of the few times she had actually had someone to talk to.

The girl even offered her some clothes that she was supposed to bring for her sister. They were a sailor type uniform with a long black skirt.

After a bit of convincing, the girl managed to drag Aihana back to her room's bathroom to help her get dressed.

"A-Are you sure this is all right. I mean won't your sister be upset if you just give her stuff away?"

The maid in training shook her head, "Nah, you don't have to worry she won't be upset over something like this. I mean she has 7 of these at home. Besides its summer so she doesn't really need to wear a school uniform right now."

Aihana nervously nodded, "O-Okay she sounds nice, thanks again for doing this. By the way, I never got to ask you your name."

The young maid took a moment to realize what she had done.

"Oh no! Your right! What kind of maid am I!?"

Aihana waved her hands to try to calm the girl down, "I-It's alright really."

"Ahem! My name is Kumokawa Maria from the Ryouran Maid School."

Aihana felt her blood go cold for a moment.

"..."

"Um? Are you okay? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"***Gulp*** J-Just wishful thinking her but do you happen to have more than 1 sister?"

"Nope."

The color from Aihana's already pale skin seemed to fade away as she made the connection in her head.

No maybe she just happened to have the same family name as the girl.

Yeah, that's it.

There's no way that those two people can be related right?

Even if they both looked similar and …

Who was she kidding? They were sisters.

After a few moments of Aihana going silent Maria finally got her to tell her what happened.

You'd think that she would've been furious to hear that her sister was doing something like this.

Nope, her reaction to the whole explanation was laughter.

"A-Are you really laughing at my suffering?"

Maria waved her off as she tried to hold back her laughter, "I-I'm sorry, you'll have to forgive my sister. She's a bit touchy whenever someone calls her that."

Aihana who had no prior knowledge about Seria other than their previous interaction didn't understand what she could've meant.

"What'd you mean?"

Maria looked side to side as if to see if someone was listing into them.

"Well between you and me, my Sis has been a bit cranky ever since the guy she liked went off and got into a relationship with a younger girl."

"Ouch"

"Mh-hm, so you calling her that probably didn't help all that much."

Aihana filled with her hands for a bit, "I'm sorry I didn't mean to say it, it just came out in the heat of the moment."

"I know, besides she probably forgot about it by now."

Wishful thinking.

"So how about we do your hair next. I never actually seen someone with indigo hair before."

"I get that a lot."

* * *

**Part 3**

As Misaki continued down the halls of the facility she wondered what exactly happened yesterday between the #3 and #6.

From the way Index described it to her Saten made it sound like she instigated the whole confrontation, but Misaki knew Misaka well enough to know that she probably did something herself to start the whole confrontation.

And this was true.

Still, she thought about bringing in backup but quickly backpedaled as she realized that if it took Misaka going all out just to incapacitate her than she could've brought in her whole clique and still not make a difference.

This was the true power difference between a Level 5, while Tokiwadai was made up of exceptional Espers all above that of a Level 3, it didn't matter when the sheer scope of power was different. In fact, even if all of the other students in Tokiwadai were to go against the only 2 Level 5s that attended they would still lose by a large margin.

As she continued down the hall she saw Kumokowa Maria dressed in her usual Maid outfit.

"Oh, Shokuhou-san, how are you doing today?"

"Fine, and how are you doing?"

Kumokawa Maria smiled, "Great, in fact, I was just helping Aihana-san get ready for the day although it looks like I have to run back home to get something for my sister."

"Oh~ Is Aihana-san her by any chance?"

Maria nodded and poked her head inside the room she had just exited.

"Aihana-san you have a visitor."

There was no reply.

Kumokawa Maria sighed.

She shook her head from side to side.

Then…

"It can't be helped then. I'll hurt your pride so you can escape your shell."

She then proceeded to enter the room and close the door behind her.

Muffled struggling could be heard within the walls of the room before a loud bang eventually echoed out as the door swung open again.

Slightly panting Kumokawa Maria opened the door with one arm still holding onto the arm of the **#6**, "Sorry for the wait, Ahem I present you, Miss Aihana Etsu"

She was a beautiful girl with long indigo-colored hair who had smooth pale skin, her eyes were tinted with a violet gradient. While she wore no makeup she still looked beautiful. She was wearing a Sailor type school uniform that fit her form well but even with the long skirt she still wore leggings underneath

In short, she had a glamorous figure, although her appearance made her out to be "frail".

The girl nervously shuffled her feet, "Ummm….H-Hi….. M-My name's***Mumble***"

It would seem if she was going to make any progress with her Misaki would have to be the one who initiated a conversation.

With a picture-perfect smile, The Queen of Tokiwadai spoke, "It's so good to meet you Aihana-san, my name is Shokuhou Misaki. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

Kumokawa Maria nodded proudly as she started to walk away.

"Have fun you two."

Poor girl, she looked like a child who was just left behind as she watched Maria walk away.

"There's no need to be nervous."

Famous last words.

* * *

**Part 4**

**Judgement Branch Office 177**

"So, the 10 child subjects who have been missing are now securely installed at a MAR's laboratory?"

Mikoto nodded.

Once she got back to her dorm from her night out, she had to explain what happened to Shirai with the students.

"So, they've been found…"

Saten lightly tapped Uiharu who was off in her own world.

"Hey, isn't that great, Uiharu?"

"Oh..yeah but doesn't it just seem ...I don't know too easy?"

Shirai shook her head, "Not every case has to be complicated, Therestina said she was going to find a way to wake up Edasuki and the others, so case closed."

Mikoto nodded.

Though even she was a bit skeptical about how things turned out.

It wasn't as though she was ungrateful for Therestina showing up when she did, it was more that she felt slightly guilty for taking the children away from Kiyama-sensei.

Sure, while Kiyama-sensei was going about saving the students in the wrong way, it didn't change the fact that she still cared about her students and was heartbroken when she was separated from them.

"***sigh*** Anyway I'm going to go visit Haruue-san and tell her the good news."

And with that Uiharu had left the Judgement Office.

"Onee-sama, are you okay?"

"...Yeah"

* * *

**A Certain Hospital**

Once Uiharu gathered some things from her dorm she headed straight for the M.A.R. Laboratory to her friend Haruue.

Wait a minute, how did her feet bring her here of all places.

From the story Uiharu heard, Misaka found the missing students in a side building to this Hospital. But why did she decide to come here of all places?

As Uiharu made her way through the Main building she stumbled upon someone she recognized.

"Kamijou-san?"

The Misfortunate boy turned around and waved, he was in the company of Index and some other boy who she had not met yet.

He had white moppy hair and wore a black shirt with an odd design of arrows on it.

"Flower hair! How are you?"

Uiharu smiled, "I'm good Index-san, I'm just here to check on something," She then turned to the white-haired boy, "It's nice to meet you, you're Yuki-san right?"

The boy simply scoffed and rolled his eyes at this.

"Don't mind him, anyways we're about to head out somewhere, so do you wanna come to join us?"

Uiharu smiled but politely declined. "Sorry, if it was any other time I would love to, I hope you all have a good day."

They all said their goodbyes.

In Yuki's case, he just walked off without saying a word.

Uiharu then gripped the bag that held her friend's clothes tightly and entered the room where the children were held before they were taken away by M.A.R

In the room staring solemnly through the glass that separated the room from where the students were once held was none other than Kiyama-sensei.

The last time Uiharu had seen her she was on the brink of ending it all and it didn't really look any better now.

"I'm sorry doctor I don't have anything right now." She sounded empty.

She was so depressed that she couldn't even bother to check on the reflection on the glass to see that Uiharu was the one who stepped in.

"Umm.."

"Oh...it's you…" She didn't even bother to turn around as she continued to stare emptily at the room.

Uiharu began to approach the glass as she peered into the now deserted room.

"I have a friend named Haruue-san, I haven't known her for a long time but I know she once had a friend named Edasaki Banri."

Kiyama-sensei's head began to turn to the young girl.

"Haruue-san is a telepath and whenever a poltergeist was about to occur she could hear Edasaki's voice calling out for help…..Deep down I think Haruue-san knew what she was doing but continued to do so anyway because she wanted to help Edasaki-san."

"..."

"I think you two are similar in that respect ...I know that you understand what you were doing was wrong, but I couldn't understand for the longest of times as to why you continue to do it. But now I think I understand, you care for your students the same way Haruue-san cared for her friend and wanted to do everything in your power to get them back."

"What are you trying to say?"

"I don't really know ...but I know that you never gave up on those kids as you promised."

Kiyama-Sensei sighed as she leaned on the glass, "I was so close to finishing the vaccine...if only I had the First Sample then I could've saved them ...If only I was smarter than I could've figured a way to fix them without it"

Kiyama-sensei began to slump down on the ground wallowing in her own self-pity,

Biting her lip to stop her tears Uiharu stepped towards Kiyama-sensei, "If you really wanna help then let's go over to them right now."

"?"

"Your research is invaluable in saving them! If you can't save them by yourself then there's no shame in asking for help. I'm sure it would be helpful to M.A.R! So stop wallowing in your own self-pity already! I told you before, didn't I!? I was gonna help you wake them all up! Come on we'll get them to take us to see Edisaki-san and all the other kids who are asleep! Come on let's go!"

A small smile made its way to Kiyama-sensei's face, "How can I say no to you?"

* * *

**Part 5**

**Gemstone Facility**

After some talking, Misaki finally got Aihana to open up a little, granted it wasn't as though she was having a full-blown conversation with the girl but she was getting there. So far Aihana-san didn't say much and answered in short spurts, Misaki was the one who had to take lead in their conversation if she wanted it to go anywhere.

"So Misaka-san destroyed your house?"

Aihana-san nodded quietly.

"That's terrible. Did you actually own the house?"

"Mh-hm."

"How'd you manage that, you must have had to take out a loan to buy a house that big."

Aihana shrugged, "Not really I just paid for it in one go with my Royalties."

Misaki nodded, she read something about that from the files she got from Touma once he became a Gemstone.

Since all espers went through The Power Curriculum Program funded by Academy City all the scientific breakthroughs that come from it are under the intellectual property of Academy City. It wasn't until researchers wanted actual physical data that it became under the esper's personal right to choose.

In short, the Espers had rights over their bodies but they had no intellectual rights over their powers and all scientific breakthroughs that may stem from it.

However, this wasn't the case for Gemstones, as they never went through the Power Curriculum Program. Due to this fact, Academy City had no rights to either their powers or their bodies. So whenever a breakthrough is discovered from a Gemstone's abilities they would be paid a royalty.

In Aihana's case since she pioneered the breakthrough of gravitons most if not all the machines made from this knowledge have to pay her a fee. This included Graviton Panels which is highly used in construction in Academy City and the Graviton detection software on the satellites floating above Academy City.

"That's nice, say Aihana-san are you alright? You seem on edge, I'm not being too pushy am I?"

Aihana shook her head, "N-No it's just…." Aihana looked side to side as though she was trying to see if someone was watching her. "I think Karma's come back to get me."

"? Why do you think that?"

Aihana continued to fidget around as she continued to sit down.

"Aihana-san Your own guilt ability is going to kill you before this goes away. Is what you did that bad."

"No!... It's just…..I went outside for a couple of days ago around July 24 I helped someone out of a tight spot and…...I don't think I should've helped them."

"Why not?"

"Well…..after I helped this person move away from some debris he came running across the street holding a…."

"A what?"

Aihana answered in a voice as soft as a mosquito, "Body."

"WHAAAAAAT!?"

Aihana continued to shake her head as She buried her face in her knees.

"It's not my fault!" She cried. "I tried to stop him but my power didn't work! Then I tried to call Anti-Skill and they hung up on me! It's not my fault! I wanted was to get a figurine! After that experience, I didn't want to leave my house until Misaka-san started shooting up the place."

Misaki was not prepared for this. Granted she was prepared to deal with a Loner but not a loner who could be charged as an accomplice to murder.

"A-Aihana-san I think you should-"

Aihana's eyes began to widen in shock as she picked her head off her knees and looked up.

There in the distance, he saw the same spiky-haired boy who was dragging around the bloodied body away from the scene of the crime in a wheelchair.

"Hey, Misaki why are you-"

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

* * *

**Part 5**

Touma didn't know how to react.

All he wanted to do was to say hi to Misaki and now he was being accused of Murder.

Seriously has his life become one full of false accusations.

The Indigo colored hair girl stood behind Misaki as she frantically motioned her hand at him.

"WHY ISN'T IT WORKING!?"

The poor girl was on the verge of tears.

"Oi Oi what the hell is all of this racket!?"

The moment the girl's eyes laid on Yuki her face was full of confusion.

"B-B-But you died!?"

Accelerator began to crack his neck, "Is that so…...well I guess I'm a ghost then."

"I-Is that why you're so pale?"

His eye began to twitch as he started to scowl at the poor girl.

* * *

"S-So you weren't trying to move the body."

Kamijou nodded, "Yep I was just trying to take Yuki over here to the hospital. So were you the one who lifted that building to clear the path for us?"

Aihana nodded, "Y-You sounded like you needed help so I made the building float."

"Thanks for that, if it wasn't for you we probably wouldn't have made it, my names is Kamijou Touma."

The boy then extended his right hand towards the girl.

"Uhh...Your welcome, My name is Aihana Etsu it's nice to meet you?"

Not being an uncivilized Aihana shook the boy's hand.

Misaki then turned to Touma, "If you're here then where did Index go?"

"Oh she wanted to go get something to eat so she headed for the facility's mess hall, I was just on my way to Senpai's office to do my weekly check-in."

Aihana looked over at Misaki, "Do you know him?"

She nodded as she grabbed Touma's arm and held him close, "Yep. He's my Boyfriend✩"

"So Misaki is she your new friend or something?"

Misaki nodded, "It's a work in progress. Aihana-san here is destitute because of Misaka-san's actions."

Kamijou shot the girl a concerned look, "I'm so sorry for whatever Mikoto did to you. If you need any help just ask."

Aihana smiled as she looked at the floor despondently, "You're actually the only person who apologized for it."

(Ouch)

After talking for a bit they all traveled to Mess hall until Misaki got a call from her phone.

After seeing who it was from, she quickly excused herself from the group and went over to go speak with her in person.

"This better be good. I'm wasting quality time with my Prince for-"

Kumokawa slammed her hands on the table, "Why is he here!?"

"Huh? Are you talking about Touma?"

"NO! I mean Accelerator!"

"Oh what about him? Didn't you say you had some grand plan in place in order to-"

"It's called a bluff! If he really was that easy to stop do you think he would be the #1?"

"Why are you getting so worked up? It's not like anyone is actually gonna provoke him, Aihana-san is too much of an introvert to say so much as a word to him and Touma's his friend so-"

"The moron is here too."

Misaki's blood ran cold. As she went into her purse and frantically dialed Touma's phone number.

"**Hyper Eccentric Ultra Great Giga Extreme and one more Hyper... AMAZING PUNCH!"**

They were too late.

* * *

"So this is the Mess hall." Aihana's eyes wandered side to side as she inspected it.

The Mess Hall was a large cafeteria with tables on every corner along with a buffet table in the center. The Mess hall had its own team of Chefs who were mainly used to feed the researchers but were now being forced to earn their pay from having to deal with a Nun's appetite.

"***Munch*** Hey Touma, who's this?"

Aihana's eyes got a glance at the absolute devastation that the petite girl was doing to the buffet.

"I-I thought the black hole stomach trope was a myth."

"Hmm?"

"So Aihana-san this is Index."

Index wiped away the crumbs on her face as she smiled towards the girl, "It's nice to meet you, My names Index Librorum Prohibitorum, what's your name?"

"I-I'm Aihana Etsu. And wow that is a mouthful."

The white-haired boy who was identified as Yuki scowled at Aihana as she went to shake his hand to introduce herself to him.

"So Aihana-san are you a Gemstone too?"

Aihana nodded. "Does that mean your all Gemstones?"

Kamijou shook his head, "Sorry, but I'm technically the only Gemstone here, I only brought them along so they could see the place."

"Tch! I told you I didn't want to come to this stupid place! And what kind of research facility is in the shape of a sports stadium?"

Aihana silently nodded.

The last time she was ever here the facility looked very different, so it was surreal to her to see how much it has changed.

Once Index had eaten her way through most if not all of the food in the facility the residents of the facility convinced Index to go to the Recreational Room so she could check out they had activities there.

They had everything from Flat screens to a retro foosball table.

It didn't take much convincing to get her there.

The only real problem was that the Recreation Room was all the way across the Facility, so much to Aihana's protest, they decided to cut through the field in the center of the facility to save time.

"Aihana-san why do you seem so worked up? It's just a field."

"I-I-It's just that I have some very unfound memories of this place…..we should hurry."

"Touma look it's a ball!"

The young nun went over to the center of the field to grab the small red rubber ball.

"Let's play catch! This time I know I'll win, Etsu you should play too!"

Without a second hesitation, Index chucked the ball at Aihana's unsuspecting head only to have it stop by some unseen force before even touching her and having it slammed on the ground within a second.

"W-Why did you just throw it at me!?"

Index tilted her head "I just did it as Yuki did."

While Aihana was a shut-in she wasn't completely foreign to society. She knew exactly what catch was and knew for a fact that it didn't involve pegging someone in the face with a ball.

As the ball slowly rolled over to her Aihana picked up the ball and took looked over at Index.

She wasn't going to chuck the ball at her or anything she was just going to show her how you're supposed to toss it.

But even though her intentions were pure, it didn't stop the white-haired boy from glaring at her.

Yuki seemed to recognize what Aihana was looking at and he stepped in front of Index as if to say, just try it.

It was at that moment that, Aihana's instincts told her to run.

But like a deer in the headlights, she froze as she dropped the ball on the floor.

The boy scowled at her before asking her something, "What Level are you?"

Aihana shuddered immediately and involuntarily "I-I-I'm a Level 5"

"Is that so?"

"***Gulp***"

The tension of the situation diminished when Kamijou sighed. Earning a glance from Yuki.

"Man, don't be so dramatic, it's just a game" The boy reprimanded, though there was no heat or aggression of any kind in his voice.

The white-haired boy simply scoffed as he turned around and continued to walk towards the end of the field.

Kamijou rubbed the back of his head as he walked up to the poor girl, "Sorry about that, I think he got the wrong idea when you used your power in the game."

"I-It's okay. It's my fault for using it in the first place."

Even though Aihana had no real control over her automatic defense she still apologized genuinely.

"Anyways, come on Index let's get going we can play catch some other time and-"

"KAMIJOU-SAMA!"

Aihana's breath caught in her throat.

"It seems you finally decided to show yourself!"

All of them turned their heads to see 'him'

The boy was wearing a Rising Sun flag T-shirt and white uniform over it; and though splendid-looking, it looked somewhat old-fashioned. "The seventh Level 5 of Academy City" Sogiita Gunha replied with a strong tone,

"Seems like you got guts coming here to challenge me! As a token of respect, let me show you my more powerful technique."

All of them could feel the atmosphere change as he stomped on the ground with enough force to shake all of their feet.

Various types of explosions such as explosions of colorful red, blue, and yellow smoke appeared behind him as he began to raise his fist.

"I-Is he really gonna-"

"No way"

Touma immediately tackled both of the girls to the ground as Sogiita started to launch himself towards where he originally was as fast as the speed of sound.

"**Hyper Eccentric Ultra Great Giga Extreme and one more Hyper... AMAZING PUNCH!"**

As Sogiita passed them they all caught a glance at where his attack would be landing.

Directly at Yuki.

***BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!***

There was a giant orb of colorful lights similar to what you would see in a Tokusatsu where the attack made an impact.

After a second a body could be seen getting launched at high speeds away from the lights directly crashing into the other side of the field easily breaking through the border.

Once the smoke cleared Yuki could be seen standing completely unharmed save for his head which was tilted slightly from where Sogiita had hit him.

* * *

The Two girl's knees nearly gave out on them when they watched Sogiita attack the strongest esper in the world with the full force of one of his attacks.

"We gotta get down there!"

"Are you insane? My persuasion ability might let me convince that shonen moron to stop but nothing is going to stop the other one from following up afterward."

Kumokawa Seria was not one to panic in these types of situations as she was an analytical thinker.

"I think I have an idea that may work."

Misaki raised an eyebrow at this, "Is this another bluff?"

"I hope not."

* * *

Sogiita picked himself off the rubble of the wall bordering the field. He looked over to see a white-haired boy standing in the middle of the field staring at him

"Ow! That hurt I think you actually broke a bone there. Lucky for you I can reconnect the bones with some 'guts'."

Within seconds the fracture that had formed in his arm had been completely healed and he leaped into the air and landed directly in front of the boy.

"You sure got some real guts there pal. Good thing, I might've gone a bit overboard there for a second."

In truth he was excited that Kamijou had actually shown up, he spent days trying to find him with no luck.

Accelerator didn't have a look of anger on his face but one of curiosity "Say do you have an older sister or a cousin?"

Sogiita tilted his head at this, "Nope, why?"

The white-haired boy nonchalantly cracked his neck as he rubbed his cheek, "Nevermind then, You remind me of some girl I fought a while back, anyways it doesn't really matter now since you have to die."

"Huh?"

Before either of them could say another word Kamijou jumped in the middle of the two.

"What the hell is going on!?"

"AH! Kamijou-sama sorry is this your friend or something?"

"Why the hell did you just attack us like that!? Are you crazy or something you could've seriously hurt them!"

Sogiita turned his head to see a small girl dressed in an ornately styled nun's habit with gold trimmings along with the girl from yesterday.

"B-But I didn't see them. I swear. The only person I saw on the field was you!"

"?"

The two boys glared at him as he looked confused as to what actually occurred.

In his eyes, the only person on the field was Kamijou Touma and when he jumped out of the way he could see the other boy behind him.

Sogiita quickly dashed to the two who he didn't see before.

"Are you okay? I'm so sorry that I didn't see you. But you girls should learn to stay out of a duel."

Index nodded as she glared at the boy, "You should be more careful Explosion boy! You could've really hurt Etsu! You're lucky Touma was here."

The boy coyly scratched his head, "I'll try to be more careful next time Nun-dono, but for now you two should get out of here, this is a duel between men" He then turned to face his opponents.

Index shrugged as she headed back in the direction where Misaki was and Aihana was quick to follow suit.

The white-haired boy narrowed his eyes at the boy as he began to step forward.

"WAIT!"

The field came to a standstill as they heard Kumokawa Seria's voice emerges from the speakers all over the field.

"S-Senpai?"

After a few awkward minutes of just standing around the Kumokawa Seria finally arrived.

"You two can't fight here."

"Why not?"

This question was one she had predicted to come up with.

If she couldn't answer this question correctly then it would result in the #1 and #7 duking out which would result in one less Diamond in the world.

"Because it's Kamijou's turn to spar against Sogiita-san."

All the anger and tension that was between the two faded as all eyes turned to Kamijou in confusion as he began to back up.

It had seemed that his Senpai had sold him out to the wolves.

This was not his day whatsoever and because of that, he could only mutter out the words.

"Such Misfortune."

* * *

**Part 6**

**M.A.R Research Lab**

"Wow, you came out here just to give me your research material?" Therestina said as she took the notes and flash drive from Kiyama-sensei.

Uiharu smiled, "Um, we would also like to see Edsaki-san and others."

Therestina frowned, "That's not possible."

"!? B-But"

"I already transferred the children to a separate facility that's better equipped than this one."

"W-Which facility is that?"

Therestina shook her head, "I'm afraid I can't tell you that information. You'll just have to trust us. MAR will take responsibility for the children. Ahh also we took Haruue-san with us as well, she wanted to go with her friends so we allowed her."

"B-But"

Therestina casually pulled out a tube of candy.

"Say if you can guess the correct color that comes out I'll let you see your friend."

"Huh? Umm."

"Oh you truly are hopeless aren't you let's go with yellow."

As the piece of candy came out the color was brown.

"Ahh, too bad" Therestina teased.

"Please, don't tease us!"

Therestina raised her hands dropping Kiyama-sensei's research material on the floor, "Oh but I'm not, I'm completely serious."

The two gasped as they watched Therestina pick her foot up and begin to stomp on all the research and crushing the flash drive.

"Oops, my bad. Though that won't be of any use to us now would it." Therestina continued to twist her foot on the now broken flash drive.

The two were stunned and before either of them could say another word they heard another researcher calling over to Therestina.

"It's just about time Director **Kihara**"

"K-Kihara?"

Therestina turned around and shot the two an insincere smile, "Oh you didn't know you but my middle name is Kihara. Therestina Kihara Lifeline"

Kiyama-sensei's world completely fell apart around her as she heard that. She had just given up her students to the same family that had put them in a coma in the first place.

"W-Why you!"

Kiyama-sensei charged at Therestina but Therestina having actually trained in martial arts as part of her training was quick to take counter her telegraphed attack and proceeded to knee her in the gut quickly taking her down.

Therestina eyes quickly fell on Uiharu as she approached her.

"Well, what have we here? Aren't you gonna try to stop me like your little teacher here."

"You won't get away with this. I don't care if your name is Kihara or even if you are the Director of MAR we will stop you-"

Uiharu quickly skidded across the floor as Therestina smacked her across the face.

"What is with kids these days and playing the hero."

Seeing both of them on the floor and unable to continue Therestina had the Power Suits she was accompanied by throwing them both outside of the facility.

* * *

**Part 7**

Once Uiharu regained consciousness she realized two things.

First getting smacked across the face hurt like hell

And Two Therestina was the real enemy here not Kiyama.

Sometime before she regained consciousness Kiyama had left and had gone off to god knows where.

While she wanted to chargeback in there and get her friend back she knew better, given how she was right now she would've died before even managing to get inside.

She had to live so she could warn her friends of the real enemy. It seemed that they took her phone when she was unconscious. So she would have to trek there on foot to warn them

After a while, she managed to drag herself all the way back to her Judgement office.

Saten casually turned her as she watched someone open the door from the couch.

"Hey, Uiharu what took you so...OH my God, what happened!?"

The denizens were quickly alerted that something was amiss as Uiharu nearly collapsed on the floor of the office.

"What happened to your face!? Who hit you!?"

Mikoto was furious up till a few minutes ago she was feeling sorry for herself and now he sees one of her friends hurt.

"Therestina Kihara Lifeline"

"What!? What are you-"

"Her name is Kihara she's been playing us this entire time."

Mikoto was stunned at this revelation.

Konori quickly jumped on the computer to look her up, "Found her," Konori called out from the computer, "Yes, Therestina Kihara Lifeline. Gensei Kihara's granddaughter… oh my."

What, is there more?" Kuroko asked.

"She's included in the personal data from Kihara's lab from the time he wrote his thesis," Konori explained.

"So, she was his research assistant?"

"I would think so," Konori replied, "Wait, it says here Therestina was the first test subject for the Ability Crystal."

"Wait, let me get this straight. You're saying that Kihara's first human test subject was his own granddaughter and that Therestina helped with his research, the same woman that has the Child Errors under her protection?" Saten surmised, "What's going on?!"

Mikoto clenched her fist.

While everyone in the office was in a frenzy her anger was more cooled.

No, it was more like she had a target for this anger.

Someone who had to pay for tricking her and hurting her friends.

And so without another word Misaka Mikoto left the office and headed straight for that person.

* * *

**M.A.R Research Facilities**

As Mikoto stood in the entry of the Facility she watched as the envoy trucks drove passed her.

It was most likely that the students were being held there but she didn't really care.

She could always go after them when she was done dealing with her.

There she stood in her specially designed purple humanoid mechanical suit.

It seemed that she too was waiting for her to arrive.

Therestina smiled as she stared at the angered esper, "Just for your information the children were in these trucks just now that you so kindly let pass."

"I can always get them later." Her voice was cold, "You tricked all of us you hurt Uiharu."

"Are you mad?"

Sparks began to form around her, "I don't really care what you're scheming because once I take you down right here. I'm putting a stop to it."

"Oh, my. Aren't we the overconfident one?"

"You're Kihara Gensei's granddaughter and you're also the first test subject to the ability crystals, to be used as a lab rat by your own family. I would feel bad for you if I didn't know you were helping him with his research. What exactly is it your planning?"

Therestina couldn't help but release a sicking laugh, "You checked out my history I see! What a clever girl! But I don't have to answer anyone who asks me what I'm doing! You IDIOT HAHAHA!"

Bluish white lightning began forming around Mikoto as Theristina continued to talk down to her.

"If you want to know so badly, go ahead and make me tell you!"

Right as Mikoto was about to attack a loud ear-piercing sound filled the air causing Mikoto to collapse onto the floor.

"ARGH! What the hell is this!?"

Theristina couldn't help but release a maddening smile, "HAHAHA! My own invention Capacity Down! Apparently, it does work on espers like yourself, personally watching this fail once was a bit disheartening for me but, just watching you squirm like the guinea pig you are, makes it all the more worth it."

Before Mikoto could even process what was going on she was smacked across the pavement by Theristina's Mechanical arm.

She felt as though her arm that had taken the hit had cracked.

"Y-You made this?"

"HAHAHAHAHAHA! Of course, I did! All it took was giving the prototype to those idiots at Skill Out to get a few bugs worked out. You wouldn't imagine the amount of data I collected from them."

She then pointed at the large radio tower in the background.

"Though it's a bit too oversized HAHAHAHAHA!"

Mikoto gritted her teeth as she began to pick herself up.

"Don't screw with me!"

Strikes of bluish-white lighting scattered across the street all missing Theristina by a small margin.

Theristina simply pulled out a type of futuristic shotgun and took aim at Mikoto.

"Oh give it a rest already your guinea pig!"

***BOOM***

Mikoto barely managed to throw herself out of the way of the shell before it exploded.

Theristina simply took this as a game as she continued to shoot and barely miss Mikoto. She watched as she ran like the helpless child, she was against her. Mikoto tried to attack her with more electrical attacks but every time she used them they would miss farther and grow weaker.

After a while, she couldn't even shoot electricity anymore and could barely think.

Exhausted and broken Mikoto laid on a stone pillar to rest for a bit only to have Theristina's mechanical robot arm grab by the throat to choke her.

"Kids like you are really something! You're always more bark than bite. First, that little brat talks big and I knock her out and now here you are fiddling on about justice and revenge like you know anything about the two. I wonder if it is because I hurt your friends? If it wasn't for you, I would never have found those kids in the first place."

Mikoto could barely breathe as she began to see black dots in her vision.

Suffocation was not something she was accustomed to and she was quickly losing out the will to stay conscious.

"Since you helped me out I'll let you in on something, my objective is to perfect the ability crystal."

Mikoto struggled to kick at her but her Mechanical suit absorbed all the damage she gave out.

After a few seconds, her vision became to tunnel and her legs stopped kicking altogether.

**[Winner: Therestina Kihara Lifeline]**

"Of course, I won't let anyone get in my way, but it would be a shame to let such a fascinating guinea pig go to waste."

Theristina dropped Mikoto's body on the floor and called out to one of her Power Suits to collect the body.

* * *

After a few minutes, a researcher along with a Powered suit arrived on the seen to pick up the Railgun of Tokiwadai from the floor.

As they began to walk away with her however they were stopped by a girl in a hospital gown who held a fan to her face.

"Just a moment! Would you assail that girl, whom you are taking away from here" She then open the fan up covering her face and narrowed her eyes at them, "Knowing that she is a friend of Kongo Mitsuko?"

* * *

"Huh!? What'd you mean she got away how that hell is that possible!?" Theristina demanded.

"I-I'm terribly sorry! Now searching the surrounding area."

Theristina clicked her tongue thoroughly annoyed, "Nevermind! You can just hang yourself right where you are!"

* * *

**Part 8**

**A Certain Hospital**

Mikoto's eyes shot wide open as she sat up. She was back at that same hospital room she was in earlier and she wasn't alone either her friends were all sitting there watching her.

"Onee-sama. You need to rest some more, please you were so injured when we found you" Kuroko begged.

"H-How did you-"

"Miss Kongo was actually the one who saved you."

Mikoto nodded, "I see"

Mikoto then remembered the crazed look on that woman's face.

She then began to force herself to stand as Shirai tried to hold her back.

"Get out of my way," Mikoto ordered, "I don't have time to lounge around in bed now. I need to go. I need to help them."

"I'm telling you no." Kuroko pleaded.

"I snuck into that laboratory! It's my fault those kids are in this mess, to begin with! Because of me, Theristina took them all. This is all my fault. Which is why I have to fix it by myself! Out of my way Kuroko!"

Mikoto pushed her roommate to the side and trudged her way to the door. However, before she could reach it Saten stood there blocking her path with her arms stretched out.

She should've known something like that wouldn't have stopped her even like this she had more than enough strength to just knock her over.

"...Saten out of my way."

The girl held her ground, "No, not when you're acting like such a child."

"What?"

"Misaka-san, what do you see right now?"

"What do I see?... Well you, Saten"

It took Mikoto a few seconds to understand what she was saying.

Even though Saten stood in her path and her words were meant to hurt her, her eyes held worry in them.

Mikoto turned around and saw all her friends having the same expression

Sad and worried that their friend was going to get herself killed because of her own self-centeredness

"...I…..I'm sorry" Mikoto apologized, burying her face in her hands, too ashamed to even look at them, "I was being selfish, and I've gone and caused more trouble for you all again."

"It's no trouble at all," Saten insisted, "But I'd rather fight together with you than worry about you all on your own again, that's what a friend does, isn't it?"

"Saten's right," Uiharu agreed, "And you got us here for you too."

Mikoto looked up from her hands and looked around the hospital room at her friends before giving them all a warm smile.

"Thank you,"

"Ahem!"

Everyone turned around to see Kongo Mitsuko standing in the entryway of the room.

"So you don't have anything you want to say to me?"

Mikoto smiled "Thank you, Kongou-san."

"It was nothing," Kongou insisted, hiding behind her fan.

"Then why did you insist on being thanked for it?"

* * *

**Epilogue**

**Gemstone Facility**

"I'm going to die"

"Don't worry Touma! I'm sure you'll live" The silver-haired nun insisted.

"No, she's right. You're gonna get the shit smacked out of you but you'll live."

Touma clutched his head and wondered where it all went so wrong.

At first when' Senpai' said that his first instinct was to run the hell out of there but she quickly stopped him.

She practically begged for him to do this and he didn't have the heart to say no.

(Oh god why didn't I just say no!?)

"I-I can't do this!"

Nayuta sighed as she watched Touma struggle, she was working there today mostly to keep an eye on Aihana but when he heard that Kamijou was going to fight Sogiita she decided to take her break.

"Why did you even agree to it in the first place?"

"I-It's just…..' Senpai' really didn't talk to me much after I…...beat her sister."

"Scumbag"

"Heh"

"Touma that's terrible!"

"IN A FOOD BATTLE! I SWEAR! Wait, can we just have one of those instead!?"

They all shook their heads.

Except for Index who nodded.

* * *

Misaki who was watching the fight about to commence turned to Kumokawa Seria.

"You do realize that if Touma loses or even gets gravely injured, the other 'one' is just gonna jump in and…" She dragged her finger across her throat.

"Don't worry, I have faith in Kamijou."

Misaki rolled her eyes before focusing her attention on the field, "The only reason I agreed to this in the first place was that I knew Touma was going to win and the pros outweigh the cons, but that doesn't mean I like this situation."

While both girls already knew the outcome of this 'spar' it didn't stop either of them from worrying about the misfortunate boy who was about to face off against the top Gemstone in Academy City.

* * *

**Author's Notes**

**Next time: Super Son Japanese Boy Vs The Misfortunate One!**

**And the Next Chapter is the final chapter for this Arc.**

**Finally, the time to move on to Deep Blood is nearing. Bring your stakes and garlic people.**


	28. Chapter 28 Heroes of our Time

**Hey, thanks for reading a Certain Scientific Counter. We're finally at the final chapter of this arc! After teasing this fight 19 chapters back its finally here! Can you believe it's been that long! How time flies right. Thank you for everyone who left a review and I'd like to thank my Beta-Reader Graeskog for helping me edit this chapter. Without further ado Q&A**

**D. N. Works- Yeah I know right. He went all Dragonball Z shooting out plasma! Thank you for the comment.**

**Aminadab Brulle- Yep, Theristina the one who was on both sides of the table will be there opponent. And I always thought that Mugino was slightly older than Touma by like a year or two so if I had to guess than she would be 17 to 18. And yeah, Gunha is Gunha and the match is finally here. And yeah The Dragon King of the kitchen took down the combat maid herself as easily. I can see her face now. Well get ready for more and get ready for burgers, Alchemists and...Vampires? Thanks for the comment.**

**Anti-Mage 29- Something like that. Thanks for the comment.**

**Fortitude501- Yep after 19 chapters it finally came true. And yeah he's had more than one challenger in his stay in Academy City but if he had to choose he liked this one the most since it didn't end with him almost dying. And one day.**

**Sirius962-No problem. And I already have something like that appearing in a future chapter but it'll take a while to get there. And yeah google translate is pretty handy!**

**tsun- Yeah, to be honest, it's true. If Mikoto was good at reading people than the arc would've been over in like 1 chapter and if Theristina didn't monologue than she could've gotten away with it. Don't worry I have something special in mind for her. And yeah that's why Touma brought Index to the facility in the first place. He read on the brochure he got that it had free food. So for a guy who has no income for the forsee able future, it's like a godsend.**

**nameless- Thank you. Yeah, the fight is finally here I wanted to level up my writing skills before attempting to tackle this battle but 19 chapters later and we're here. Aihana is finnaly making friends now all we need is for Mikoto to apologize and it'll be all good. The Yuki development has been a slow but gradual one, he's always had a soft spot for younger kids so it's only natural that he'd be protective against some strange new esper he just met. And I already have an idea how that arc well play arc so I'll probably slightly tweak your idea to make it fit.**

**Dragonrails- Oh there's a reason for that and you'll find out below. Accelerator is a high roller, just look at how he bets with Index. But I like your idea it really made me crack a smile. Thanks for the comment.**

* * *

"I can't believe it….. you're my corner man?"

"What's that supposed to mean!?" Nayuta spat out.

"You're like 12!"

"And yet I'm still smart enough not to be peer pressured into fighting someone who can use a Freightliner for weight training."

"...Okay point taken, do you have any advice for me?"

"Don't lose."

"Seriously?"

"Hey, that's pro advice."

"..."

"Don't look at me like that! What do you want me to lie to you!? Seriously, if you won't back out then I have nothing for you. I have no clue how to beat that guy with the tools you have at your disposal. If you were fighting someone like Accelerator then maybe I could give you some pointers, but not that guy."

"What advice do you have on Accelerator?"

"Pull back before you hit, that's something that uncle Amata told me that awhile ago."

"What does that mean?"

"What it sounds like, but that doesn't matter right now since your about to become roadkill if you fight him."

"So I really don't have any chance here do I?" said Kamijou in a disheartened voice.

"Not really. Though people are still betting on this match."

"What!?"

Nayuta nodded as she took out her notepad.

She proceeded to read out an assortment of people's names and how long they think he'd last. Ironically enough Index and Aihana were the only ones who bet that he'd win though the latter had her own reasons for wanting to see him win. While Misaki and Seria didn't take bets at all. Not surprisingly Yuki bet that Touma wouldn't last 10 minutes.

"Can I make a bet?" Kamijou asked.

"Sure, I don't really think it's ethical but, hey your choice. So who do you want to bet on?"

* * *

"One hundred thousand ¥ on Touma!" The young Nun then went into her purse and pulled out her Cash Card and handed it to the woman who was taking bets.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Are you serious Index?" asked Aihana worryingly.

Index nodded.

"One hundred thousand ¥ on the other guy." Accelerator deadpanned as he pulled out his bank card.

"Yuki! How come you bet against Touma!?"

"Listen, runt, I won't make a suckers bet!"

Index began to puff out her cheeks, "Well be prepared to be shown wrong Yuki! Because Touma's gonna win!"

Aihana leaned back in her seat as she pulled out her bank card. "One hundred thousand ¥ on Kamijou, please."

They were all currently seated in the stands, a safe distance away so they wouldn't be hurt from the shockwaves of Sogiita's attacks but still close enough to see the match without the aid of a Screen.

Though there were many situated around the field all broadcasting and showing the field on the Giant Tv overhead.

"Say Etsu, why'd you bet for Touma?"

Aihana began to curl her hair with her fingers, "I don't know. I mean you're hyping him up a lot and I kinda want him to win I guess."

Index crossed her arms and turned to Yuki, "Hmph! See Yuki even Etsu knows how to make a smart bet!"

"Huh? She's still here? Since when?"

Aihana hung her head down, "I was here the whole time."

Accelerator rolled his eyes, "Whatever," As if a lightbulb turned off over his head, he got an idea, "Say, runt, wanna make a bet?"

"What kind of bet?"

"If that idiot wins, I have to buy you that stupid toy you were whining about, but if I win you have to be quiet for an entire day."

Index smiled, "Deal!"

She then extended her pinky towards him.

He begrudgingly accepted much to his chagrin.

(Pfft! As if I'm gonna lose this bet.)

* * *

Misaki sat up in the announcer's box overlooking the field along with Seria.

Apparently, Seria was going to be commentating on the whole match.

Misaki had no interest in being anybody's co-host so she was just going to watch.

"So how much longer until the match starts?" Shokuhou asked.

"In about 5 minutes, we're just getting all the sensitive equipment around the facility secure. You wouldn't imagine the bill that comes through every week just from damages alone."

Misaki sighed, "I think I can, hey why is this room a mess too? Are you like 'a walking landfill' or something?"

Seria rolled her eyes, this wasn't the first time she was criticized for not cleaning up after herself though this usually only came from her sister, "I'll clean it up later, for now, I'm just waiting for the all-clear signal."

Misaki looked over at the field and at the Tunnel that Touma would be exiting any minute now.

While she had faith that he would win no matter the obstacle, her heart couldn't help but worry.

Who's heart could be when their beloved went off to fight someone who could be considered a one-man army.

Misaki steadied her breath as she remembered what Touma had said to her once.

She then grabbed her necklace and regained her composure.

"Why'd you get so calm all of the sudden?"

* * *

As Touma readied himself near the entrance of the tunnel he began to clench his fist.

Even though this was just a sparring match one bad move could cost him his life, the comment Accelerator made also didn't lighten his worries.

He compared Sogiita to Kanzaki.

The last time they faced off against her the 'two' of them barely won.

If Accelerator hadn't shown up when he did then he would have lost to her and he might have lost Index because of it.

He'd be a liar if he said he wasn't nervous right now, but he'd also be lying if he wasn't curious at the difference in strength between them.

How far has he really come since he saved Index?

The last time he fought Kanzaki she absolutely crushed him. It wasn't even a fight as it was a slaughter.

So how far did he really get? His job was Index's protector so how could he do that if he didn't get stronger.

Touma inhaled and exhaled as he began to walk towards the opening of the tunnel.

* * *

The stadium was bustling.

The Match everyone had been waiting for was finally here. There was an atmosphere of energy and passion not normally seen within the Facility. It was something akin to what you'd see in a real sports arena.

Even the researchers who spent hours inside reviewing data were in the stands in attendance.

The reason the match had received so much attention was due in a combination of the fact that Sogiita promoted this match far before he had actually found Kamijou and that the speaker that Kumokawa Seria had used to speak to them was connected to the entire facility.

The cooks that we're in charge of the mess hall now went up and down the stands handing out complimentary meals to all in attendance since this was a special day.

The two Big screens that stood on both ends of the gigantic field now had the Icon for each competitor.

The Icon of Japan's Rising Sun for Sogiita.

And a Dragon for Kamijou.

Since Touma didn't have any kind of symbol, they let him choose a Dragon wallpaper he found online. He picked it because he thought it looked cool.

Almost no researcher even considered going inside on a day like today.

Not a single one could contain their anticipation as they waited with bated breath for the opening bell.

"Test—test, one…two…Ahem. Gooood morning and good day! I'll be providing a blow-by-blow analysis of today's events. Some of you may already know me as the Overseer of this great facility but today I'll be your host!"

"Joining me today to add…..Maria!? What're you doing here?"

The sounds of struggle could be heard before another sound could be heard.

The whole crowd had a look of confusion on their faces as they wondered what could've happened.

"Ahem sorry about that! My co-host for Today will be the Maid in training herself my sister Kumokawa Maria. Maria, a word, please!"

"—I am Kumokawa Maria Thanks for having me!"

A girl appeared in one of the big screens. She had black hair but wore it in ringlet curls, she wore a maid uniform but her lucky color was yellow so the outfit was that color too.

The Maid received a round of applause.

"Yes, thank you very much for that! And thank you for nearly ripping my arms off too."

Many Researchers had gathered on the third floor of the Research Facility. All of them were on the edge of their seats, overflowing with excitement. Index and Nayuta were among them.

"I can't wait! Hey Mister can I have another meal?"

One very uncomfortable chef reluctantly gave in and gave her the entire case that she was holding for the entire row to appease her.

Nayuta shook her head as she watched Index open the meal containers and devour the contents of each one.

Though she was kind enough to give all of them one meal container.

Aihana tried her best to make herself as small as possible as she took hers.

"How much longer until the match starts?"

Nayuta pulled out her phone and checked the time.

"Should be about time."

* * *

"All bets in?! Won't accept any once things get underway!"

A woman's voice echoed through the stadium.

Researchers and students alike were laying odds and making bets on the outcome of the match.

The odds are 275-to-1 in Sogiita's favor.

Now it would be boring if everyone bets on the same person, but keep in mind that the spectators were all scientists who always bet on the most probable outcome.

The only two people in the entire facility that actually bet on Kamijou's victor were the two girls sitting next to each other.

They weren't in it to hit the jackpot or anything they just believed in the boy.

"Uahh! It's time, it's time! Come on, Touma! You got this!"

Meanwhile, at the other end of that very row Accelerator was picking at his meal container as he watched the field.

"We are just seconds away!" The commentator's voice filled the arena.

"Here we go…"

"Yes…"

And then…

"The Match has begun!"

Loud, deep bells rang out to signal the start of the battle.

* * *

At that moment, inside the Tunnels both competitors exited.

The ringing of the bells that signaled the start of the Match wafted through the windows from afar.

Sogiita was at one end of the field, the wind blowing his jacket giving it the appearance of a cape. His arms crossed as he looked out to the other side waiting to catch a glimpse of his opponent.

"In this corner we have…. Maria you take over."

"— Certainly! In this corner, we have the man of Guts! Some call him the Japanese Superman while others just call him by his rightful title 'The seventh-ranked Level 5! Sogiita Gunha!"

The crowd's cheer boomed over the field.

It turned out that he was quite popular among this facility even with all of his antics.

"—And coming out of the other corner…...Is that KAMIJOU!?"

Another small struggle could be heard before Seria's voice appeared once again.

"Ahem! This student was recently enrolled in this Facility. For the longest of times, he was wrongfully placed as a Level 0 but now his true colors have emerged! Welcome the newest addition to our Facility! Kamijou Touma!"

The crowd applauded as the boy exited the Tunnel.

Wearing his gym clothes Kamijou walked out into the field to face the #7

The atmosphere changed as the two made their way to the center of the field.

When they were finally facing each other, Sogiita was the first to speak up.

"I've waited a long time for this Kamijou-sama, ever since you took down that beast in one punch and saved all those Students I wanted to test my 'Guts' against yours. So for that reason, I won't hold back!"

Touma simply rubbed the back of his neck, "You sure do say 'Guts' a lot." Touma then looked around the stadium. "If you're really not gonna hold back then I guess I can't too. Are you sure about this?"

Sogiita smiled as he nodded.

"***Sigh*** Alright then"

Seria's voice once again filled the arena as she explained the rules.

The match was only one round that lasted 20 minutes. The match would be decided in one of two ways, either when one competitor either gave up (Which neither would do) Or when one of them could no longer get up.

"Now that both competitors know the rules, please walk 10 meters opposite of each other."

Once the two of them got into position they turned around to face each other.

"— NOW LET THE MATCH BEGIN!"

"**SUPER AMAZING HYPER ECCENTRIC ULTRA GIGA AND SUPER HYPER…...AMAZING PUNCH!"**

***KABOOM!***

* * *

"Wh-what—wassat?!"

Utter chaos broke out within the field as explosions filled the entire arena.

In the opening seconds of the match, Sogiita had punched the ground.

The dust from the explosion filled the air to the point where nobody could see the two of them anymore.

The crackling of fire could be heard along with the buzzing of electricity.

Suddenly, ***KABOOM!***

Part of the field had just been shot into the air by an attack probably shot off by Sogiita.

Large chunks of turf shot in every direction, showering that side of the arena in the dirt.

At the sight of this Yuki could only sit on the edge of his seat, trying to see what was going on in that battlefield.

* * *

"To think, there would come a day when I would use this technique…"

The boy in the white school uniform whispered to himself as he continued to punch.

One right punch sent a giant, crackling fireball hurtling toward his target.

Bringing down left fist brought forth a thick column of electricity that snaked its way through the battlefield in less than a heartbeat.

Both were powerful enough to pierce the ground, sending bits and pieces of it high into the air.

Though even with all of this he still could not hit his target.

Every time he spun, he swung left hand forward, the engulfing fire explosions and electrical eruptions were all gone.

***Reverb!***

The sound was deafening even from this distance as even more energy disappeared.

Through sheer skill, Kamijou was able to dodge everything even with the thick cloud of dust blocking everything from view.

Sogiita couldn't help but crack a smile as he admired his opponents 'Guts'.

If he was going to win this match he couldn't use range attacks.

No, he would have to get up close and personal to his opponent.

"Now, Kamijou Touma the real fight begins!"

and yet another explosion rocked the earth.

* * *

The entire crowd was on the edge of their seats. While none of them could see clearly what was going on, they all knew that something big was coming.

Even Index was looking a bit worried.

Though there were only 3 in that entire facility that knew that he'd be alright.

* * *

"***Pant**Pant**Pant*"**

The boy who was panting like a dog was currently running on fumes.

He had managed to dodge his opponent's initial assault through sheer instincts but even so, that didn't mean he got out of the ordeal unscathed.

His pristine white gym clothes were riddled with cuts and small patches of blood and dirt, stained it due to the bomb-like explosion that Sogiita started the match with.

He could barely see a foot in front of him due to all the dust in the air, but he could still hear the explosion as it shook the earth.

By Instinct alone, he raised his left hand to cover his face.

***REEEVEEERB!***

Though the sound could be heard, no explosion was followed up.

Kamijou could feel the full weight of Sogiita's body as he caught his fist.

Kamijou stopped breathing.

He slightly lowered his entire body like a spring and...

***Shatter!***

* * *

"Eh?"

The first one to express his surprise at that result was Kamijou.

He had truly not expected his fist to actually do any damage even if it did hit.

However, Sogiita was knocked away and was now squirming on the ground sprawling to get up.

"—This is incredible! Kamijou Touma has knocked down the Superman!"

Cheers of surprise and excitement erupted all over. They had never actually seen Sogiita get knocked down before in such a way.

"Ouch, that really hurt!"

Sogiita quickly got back on his feet and began rubbing his face. The bruised part where Touma had struck him was now healing itself and after a few seconds, it was like it never happened.

Before he knew anything, he began to back up.

The boy could regenerate faster than Touma could hurt him.

Before he could say a word his opponent rocketed himself towards the boy like a bullet.

***REVERB!***

Once again the sound was heard but no explosion came.

Kamijou's hand was burning in pain. Even though he was able to absorb all of the damage the force of his hit still shook Touma's body.

Before he could ready himself to swing again Sogiita yanked his fist out of Kamijou's grasp and jumped away from him.

It would seem he would not fall for the same trick twice.

"How'd you do that? It was like you were stealing my 'Guts' just then."

Kamijou gave no response, he began to instead get some distance between himself and Sogiita.

Though it was folly, he still wanted to have more time for his body to react to catch any more of his attacks.

At the sight of this, Sogiita raised both of his hands in the air and slammed them into the ground.

"**EARTHQUAKE!**"

Just as he implied the earth began to shake violently causing Kamijou to lose his footing and he fell to his back.

***Shatter***

Though the shaking had stopped the result was already reached.

With Kamijou on the ground, Sogiita once again rocketed towards his position in order to finish the match.

Kamijou clenched his right fist.

And as Soggita swung his fist down towards him he punched it away.

***Shatter!***

An audible cracking and popping sound could be heard.

"Gah!?"

Sogiita reeled back his fist in pain.

He had two fractures on his knuckles in a layman's term he had a **boxer's fracture**.

Before he could even think about what had just happened Kamijou's fist plowed into his face.

***SHATTER!***

Sogiita's knees buckled as he struggled to keep himself up.

Though his wounds were healing, having his brain shake around his skull was still disorienting.

Right as Kamijou was about to strike again Sogiita was the first to attack.

***KA-BOOM!* *Reverb!* *KA-BOOM!***

A heartbeat later, each of them flinched awkwardly as their bodies were blown away.

"—He blew himself up!?"

The series of explosions shook pieces of earth loose and launched them all over the battlefield.

In a last-ditch effort to protect himself, Sogiita decided to let out a small self destruct and blow everything up around him.

Not even Kamijou could avoid an omnidirectional attack and that was why he was laying on the ground.

Though he had no blood on his shirt or anywhere on his body, Sogiita's body still felt heavy.

This feeling was foreign to him.

It wasn't as though he was hurt in any way, but he still had to catch his breath.

This foreign feeling that Sogiita had was simple,

He was tired.

"Heh." Sogiita couldn't help but chuckle as he watched Kamijou rise from the earth once again.

It wasn't as though he could heal himself as Sogiita could, no something else was driving him.

The boy clenched his right fist as he trudged towards the #7.

Sogiita smiled as he clenched his right fist to meet his, only in his case his fist was encased in pure colorful energy steaming off of his hand like the vapor to a kettle.

As the two walked towards each other, it was clear to everyone who would be the victor in this match.

Kamijou Touma was running on fumes and had one attack left in him before collapsing from exhaustion.

Sogiita Gunha while tired was in perfect health and could continue on for however long necessary in order to win.

Though the crowd might have been sure of his defeat at this point, the 3 who still believed in his victory never once faltered.

While one competitor relied on his delusions in order to pull a victory.

The other made it his habit to Kill Illusions.

Perhaps it was fate that brought these two together as their abilities were drawn to be opposites.

But whatever the reason it did not change what happened next.

Sogiita reached skyward as if he were trying to grab hold of the sun.

"**MEGA ULTRA EXTREME GIGA HYPER SOLAR…..AMAZING PUNCH!**"

His fist shined as bright as the sun as it came crashing into Kamijou's fist.

While he had expected to hear the sound of something reverbing what he did hear shook him to his very core.

***SHATTER!***

Kamijou Touma's right hand had popped up as he caught Sogiita's fist.

As Sogiita looked at Kamijou Touma's left hand he saw a Pulsing white light.

Next, one voice.

"**Amazing counter**"

A white inferno of light burst forth.

All words left Sogiita the moment he saw his own attack be turned against him.

The last thing he heard was….

A deafening explosion.

* * *

"What was that, did you see that!?"

The arena was full of screaming spectators.

"How is that even possible?!"

"That kind of power can do that!?"

Among the crowd, the Level 5s could only guess as to what had actually happened.

Among those, Accelerator was currently eyeing the arena.

Index didn't move, either, eyes not budging from the arena

She watched as Sogiita struggled to pick himself off the ground.

"Haa, ghaa…?!"

The Field itself had been completely destroyed by the blast that came from directly above it.

Even now, the last of the electrical blasts were carving their way through clouds high in the sky, on their way toward the shining sun.

"What…what just happened!?"

Sogiita climbed to his feet. The once perfectly set and clean jacket around his shoulders was torn and badly damaged. His normally stylish hair was ragged and filled with dirt.

He could vaguely remember hearing the sound of glass breaking as everything went white.

He must have lost consciousness during the attack because he couldn't remember how he'd ended up on the ground.

"Kamijou!?"

He called out to his opponent in confusion. There was no response.

The smoke lifted enough for him to get a better view of the now battle-damaged field.

"Where are you!?"

His opponent was still alive, he knew it.

His heart was racing; sweat continually poured down his face. He was hiding in the smoke somewhere.

Sogiita spun to the left, looked back to the right, and then turned all the way around.

The cool-headed Superman was gone. He couldn't stand still, watching every single twist of the rising smoke in all directions.

At last, the sun's rays started to pierce the smoky clouds. He could see deeper and

Deeper until…

The world seemed to stand still as he could make out the silhouette.

A heartbeat later, Touma burst through the smoke's cover. Sogiita spun to meet him.

***SHATTER!***

The Arena shook.

This highly unexpected turn of events sent the Facility into a frenzy.

Hundreds of sweaty palms were clenched into fists as unblinking eyes watched the screen with the utmost intensity.

None of the onlookers could form actual words, only make as much noise as possible as the duel of the century unfolded before them.

"…?!"

A forward thrust sent Sogiita to stumbling to the ground once again.

The moment that Sogiita got back up, the Misfortunate boy darted away, rolling to his side, then to a blind spot, always staying out of his reach.

Forced to go on the defensive, Sogiita called upon his defensive technique

"**Aurora Guard!"**

***Shatter!***

Sogiita's eyes shook as he watched Touma's fist destroy his shield as though it was tissue paper.

—How?

The boy's strikes increased in ferocity. What was worse, he couldn't predict them.

Sogiita had the advantage in Strength and Speed. But strangely, the boy kept up with him.

—How is he doing this?

Techniques, footwork, all were in the other boy's corner.

—It doesn't make sense!

Barely managing to block the boy's attack, Sogiita looked at him in disbelief.

Abilities, strategy, techniques, everything was on his side.

The boy who had been easily overpowered by simple, straightforward strikes earlier was gone.

Sogiita swung, again and again, attacking wildly every time only hearing the sound of something reverbing, when suddenly Touma's body became a blur.

***Kaboom!***

Misaki bit her lip as she watched the two engage in a highly mobile, hit-and-run style of combat on the screen.

Seria cocked an eyebrow and made her way down to the Field.

"It seems this fight is as good as over. Maria make sure you don't mess up the victory announcement just because you couldn't beat him either"

Maria could only puff her cheeks as she watched her sister exit the office.

* * *

Fists pierced through the air as Sogiita absorbed each hit, staggering back for longer and longer periods of time.

His main advantage, his healing was now being strained by some unknown means.

The boy whose power was incomprehensible was now being overpowered by a power that had no true meaning.

In between the onslaughts, Sogiita managed to finally see his opponent clearly for the first time.

Other than his clothes, that have been ravaged by the battle, his opponent looked completely healthy.

It was as though he hadn't even taken a single hit before.

For Sogiita, an individual who lived with a power he himself couldn't understand, he was at a loss for words.

Despite looking perfectly healthy, Kamijou was tired beyond what he thought the human body was capable of.

Kamijou knew that he would lose this battle should his opponent draw it out.

His arms and legs were getting heavier by the second.

Kamijou needed to end this in less than a minute.

Every ounce of his strength, every drop of energy was going into each hit.

Body and mind working as one, the boy's movements picked up even more speed.

"Guhh…?!"

***Shatter!***

Once again staggering, Sogiita's body was recoiling from the sudden attack as his body began to sway back and forth.

In order to stop himself from falling, Sogiita slammed his foot into the ground causing a bright red explosion to occur.

The resulting impact sent a fresh cloud of blinding dust into the air. The strike was powerful enough to reach the soil, adding a plume of dirt to the explosion.

Touma was quick to react, his reflexes sending him backwards before the cloud could overtake him.

At the same time, Sogiita kicked off the ground, launching himself away towards the boy like an arrow shot from a bow.

Then...

"***AMAZING PUNCH!***"

***REVERB!**KABOOM!***

An audible cracking sound could be heard as Sogiita's body flew across the ground.

Sogiita's arm had completely fractured and his regeneration was taking longer and longer to fix it leaving him with the feeling of numbness mixed with pain as it did.

His attack was countered by some unknown means which resulted in this.

His body which had picked itself off the ground was now stuck in this position.

He couldn't move forward as he would only get swatted down by his opponent the second he got within striking distance.

He could not overpower with his opponent with 'Guts' since it would only result in his attack being overpowered.

Unable to hold his own in hand-to-hand combat, Sogiita decided to try a different strategy to turn the tide of battle to his favor.

Extending his left arm outward, he collected red energy transforming it into a ring of red energy.

Touma could sense danger on the other side of the swirling dust cloud.

Running forward, Kamijou thrust his right arm forward in an attempt to stop the attack.

Bending his knees to lower his center of gravity, Sogiita reached his left hand high into the air and dropped his broken right to just above the ground beneath his feet.

The boy watched in horror as Sogiita's eyes locked onto him, right hand pulsing with energy.

"**DESTRO DISK!**"

A disk the size of his body appeared between his hand, shining as bright as the sun.

Sogiita flung the disk forward in one swift motion, his left hand aiming the disk at Kamijou.

It spun with blinding speed as it rushed forward.

Kamijou launched his right hand forward in an attempt to destroy it, but the disk had snaked its way around his right hand and around his body aiming for his back.

Kamijou dodged with the slimmest of margins only to have the disk race across the field.

Sogiita all the while was pointing his finger towards the disk.

The disk then suddenly turned skyward as if guided by Sogiita's finger.

Flipping around, it set a new course for Kamijou.

The red hot light of the disk reflected off of the boy's eyes as it came barreling towards him.

Kamijou made a desperate jump to get out of the disk's path.

***KABOOM!* *Shatter***

A blinding flash and then a sudden explosion.

The explosion threw the boy's helpless body several meters, careening across the ground.

"Touma!?" screamed Index as she clung to Yuki's body, watching the battle from the corner of her eye.

Misaki forgot to breathe as she stared, eyes transfixed on the screen.

Everyone cheering for the boy around the Arena suddenly fell silent.

Kamijou bounced across the ground three times, droplets of his blood flinging through the air around him as he did.

Finally coming to a stop, the boy managed to climb to his feet. However, his left arm hanging limp and useless at his side.

"I got you now!"

Clenching his now healed right fist, Sogiita charged.

Kamijou watched his enemy pick up speed, but he couldn't react.

Kamijou saw his opponent charging in slow motion.

**Meanwhile, around the Facility...**

Misaki's eyes shook.

Index's face turned pale,

Aihana shuddered,

Yuki clicked his tongue.

**Now...**

Sogiita pulled back his arm, he was going to end this without the use of his powers in one hit.

Kamijou started to lean backward.

The corners of Sogiita's mouth curled downward, interpreting Kamijou's movements as cowardly he sliced the air with his fist, where Kamijou's face was.

Kamijou bent his knees and rolled onto his back a moment later.

Forcing his center of gravity as far back as possible, he rolled backwards over his shoulder.

Once Sogiita's punch missed, he froze on the spot.

His opponent's confidence and carelessness had opened the path to victory.

Kamijou rolled over his shoulder once again and felt his feet connect with the ground, he sprang forward like a bullet towards him.

"Haa!"

Point-blank range.

"W-waaaaaaiit!"

Limp left arm at the mercy of centrifugal force, Kamijou made a fist with his right hand.

Sogiita saw the boy coming but was unable to evade his attack because his body was still stuck in the same thrusting position.

Every muscle in the boy's body tensed before filling his fist with every ounce of energy he had left.

***SHATTER!***

"UWAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Impact.

"GWHHAA!?"

Kamijou's fist buried itself in Sogiita's cheek, shock waves rolled all the way around the boy's head.

A moment later, his feet left the ground.

A sharp thud rang out before a loud crash.

The boy's body hit the ground with such force that he flew high into the air on the first bounce; what was left of his Jacket was dirtied as dirt now clung to it dirtying the once pure white jacket... He fell to the ground again only to have his momentum launch him skyward once more.

His body finally came to a merciful halt.

Sogiita laid on his back, arms, and legs spread out like a fallen hero in the middle of the field.

He only had enough strength left to open his eyes as he watched the victor of the match tower over him before passing out

Eyes rolled back in his head and the giant crater on his cheek, the boy who called himself a 'hero' did not stand again.

The wind stopped blowing as silence descended on the arena.

The battle was over.

**WINNER: [KAMIJOU TOUMA]**

* * *

The sky above the Facility erupted in a tremendous outcry.

"Shokuhou, look at that!"

"Touma!"

Misaki wrapped her arms around Maria's shoulders in the announcer booth.

Starry eyes tearing up, Misaki forgot her position as Queen of Tokiwadai for a moment and celebrated.

The anxiety masked by refinement was gone, pure joy taking its place as she watched her Prince stand victorious.

"—There's the final bell! That was amazing, I've never seen anything like that before. The victor of this Battle is Kamijou Touma!"

For some reason, Maria struck poses, even though no one could see her, as there were no cameras here.

* * *

"Yahoo HAAAA!"

The two people, who'd bet on Kamijou jumped up from their seats, celebrating their improbable winnings.

"SON OF A BITCH!"

The one Level 5 along with everyone else who bet on Sogiita swore at the top of their lungs and threw their tickets to the floor in disgust.

"YUKI."

The feet of Index's chair squeaked as she rose from it.

Her chin suddenly jerked up, green eyes flashing as they locked on her target: Yuki.

Tap, tap.

"Huh?"

"You remember the promise you made, right?"

Accelerator's head tilted, "Huh?... Oh, I'm still on the hook for that?"

Index continued to stare.

"Tch! Fine, I'll buy you your dumb toy. What the hell was it again?"

Index puffed her chest proudly, "The Magical Powered Super Android Girl Kanamin Music Box."

There was a crack in the air.

The speed at which Aihana's neck turned was something to be seen as she turned to Index.

"H-Hey Index."

"Hmm? What is it?"

Aihana stumbled with her words for a moment, "D-Do you like Magical Powered Super Android Girl Kanamin?"

Index nodded.

Aihana face looked like someone who had finally seen dry land after months lost at sea.

Aihana cupped Index's hands as her eye's nearly watered.

"***Sniff*** FINALLY!"

Index could only cutely tilt her head as she did not understand.

* * *

As the loser of the fight opened his eyes the first thing he saw was the face of the Overseer of the Facility.

"...I lost, huh?"

She nodded, "It would seem so."

He could only rest his head on the ground as his eyes turned upwards towards the skies above.

"I gotta ask, what's his power?"

The heads of everyone in the facility turned slightly at this question, they too were curious at what power could have beaten the #7.

Kumokawa Seria never being unprepared spoke.

"That's easy, his power is to always be stronger than your power."

Sogiita could only chuckle as he started to close his eyes and drift back into unconsciousness

"What a broken power."

For a single moment, everyone in the facility heart's was one.

(You're the last person who should be saying that.)

* * *

**Gemstone Facility infirmary**

Touma reunited with his friend inside the infirmary. Though surprisingly his body had no real injury to it other than the exhaustion he had built up due to the fight.

Of course, all of them were elated by his victory.

Except for Yuki who simply rolled his eyes.

"Y-You actually defeated him. Even though he had so much power…by yourself." Nayuta mumbled.

"Of course he did," said Index.

"Had to rely on a trick or two but…Yeah, I did it."

Touma walked away from their conversation and approached Misaki.

"Hey."

The sincerity in Touma's eyes, despite the fact he was covered in dried blood, overwhelmed her so much that she couldn't speak clearly.

"A-Are you sure you're okay? You aren't just saying that right?"

Touma let out a warm smile, "Yeah I'm sure, why don't we get out of here."

Touma's words made Misaki's face smile.

The Starry-eyed girl blushed as she looked at him with a smile as radiant as a blooming sunflower.

"Ahem!"

Their moment was however cut short by a certain 'Beauty Senpai'

She stood there eyeing the two, "I'm afraid Kamijou has to stay for 'medical reasons'."

Misaki eyed the girl, "I'm sorry but your observation ability is obviously failing you, aside from how he looks Touma is perfectly healthy, the one you should be worrying about is 'him'."

Misaki then pointed at the unconscious Sogiita who was lying on a medical bed.

Seria rolled her eyes, "He'll be fine, Kamijou, on the other hand, needs to be checked out, I watched the replays, you don't just get flung across a field like a rag doll like that without something moving out of place, better to be safe than sorry."

"Ah, sure." Touma agreed.

Seria smiled as she watched as Misaki glared at her.

"Say Kamijou, are you hungry?"

Without thinking, Touma answered "Hmm...Yeah, I guess."

"I'll go get you something!"

"I'll go get you something!"

And like that, both the #5 and Beauty Senpai left the room.

* * *

As the two girls walked towards the Mess hall in order to get something for Touma to eat a thought occurred in Seria's head.

Her opponent,

She was in a foot race against the most unathletic person she had ever met.

Once she realized this, she simply picked up the pace and watched as Misaki got farther and farther behind.

With a smirk, she smiled, as she continued to make her way through the halls.

Not wanting to tire herself Misaki continued at the same pace she had when she started.

There was no reason to rush.

Why would there be, it's not like one gift would change anything, she was together with him now and she would never let him go.

Without thinking, Misaki placed her left hand on her chest.

Taking a deep breath, she grabbed the string around her neck and pulled the silver whistle out from under her shirt.

She smiled as she looked at it fondly

"It really did help, after all, my Prince."

* * *

"Say Aihana-san, you seem oddly chummy with Index, is everything alright?"

Aihana smiled, "It turns out me and Index love Magical Powered Super Android Girl Kanamin! Did you know she entered the voice over contest!? I tried to enter but I chickened out at the last moment. Do you also know that she has over 5 different wands!? One for each Kanmin, I mean I have them all too but they're all buried under a pile of rubble now. That reminds me I gotta go back there and collect all my stuff. OH, that reminds me…"

It had seemed that Aihana had finally made a friend.

"Tch! They've been talking like that ever since the runt opened her mouth about that damn show!"

Index head turned towards Yuki, "Remember you promised!"

Accelerator rolled his eyes, "Yeah whatever!"

"What he bet on this time?"

"That you'd lose, but Etsu and I proved him wrong!"

"Oh yeah, I saw that."

Nayuta then turned to Touma, "That reminds me, Why'd you bet against yourself Kamijou-senpai?"

All eyes turned to Touma as he answered.

"Because knowing my luck the universe would rather me win that fight then me actual win a bet that would make me some money."

Snickering could be heard all around the room.

Then the sound of the door slamming open could be heard echoing throughout the room.

"Kamijou Touma!"

Touma sighed as he saw 'her' walk through the door.

The little sister of his Senpai…...Maria.

"Such Misfortune."

Maria gasped, "Is that how you greet a fair maiden like me!? It's a wonder how you ever managed to get a girl with an attitude like that."

"Trust me we're all still wondering how he pulled that off," Yuki added.

"HEY!"

"Regardless, Kamijou I'm here to challenge you to a….."

Touma stopped her as he raised her hand in front of her face and shook his head disapprovingly.

"Is that how it is? You wanna win so badly you try to challenge me when I'm still in the infirmary. That's just cold."

"Gah!? I-It's not like that! Onee-chan said that you weren't hurt and-" As Maria stumbled with her excuse as Kamijou sighed in relief.

She was easier to deal with than most girls he knew. All you had to do was say something that made her sound bad and her pride as a maid would send her on the defensive.

"A-Anyways you don't look that injured!"

Kamijou simply limped over to an empty bed and weakly laid down.

All eyes turned to the maid in training as if judging her for challenging a cripple.

"..."

"Gah!" Maria's mouth gaped open as she watched the room staring at her.

She knew for a fact that Kamijou was playing her, right?

She marched right up to him and grabbed his shoulder.

"H-Hey stop pretending you're not-"

"Ouch!"

Maria face stiffened, she could hear the comments about her in the background

"I-I didn't know Maria was that cruel."

"For shame."

Maria was quick to let go after that.

"W-W-Whatever! Fine! Hmph!"

Most of the room chuckled as they watched Maria walk off in a huff and sit down on one of the chairs defeated.

***Ring* Ring***

Nayuta's phone had started to make a sound and within a few seconds, she went outside of the room to answer.

After a few moments, she entered the room once again and began to walk towards Kamijou,

"It's for you,"

* * *

**Part 2**

**Judgement Office 177**

Once Mikoto and her group managed to get back to the office they didn't waste a minute to get to work. Through collaboration with Anti-Skill, the Judgement Branch got to work on tracking down the missing children. Uiharu and Kuroko manned the computers, working through every surveillance device in Academy City they could access to track down them down.

Also, Kongo was there ...she didn't add much.

They eventually located M.A.R trailers they believed to be carrying the children on Urban Expressway 5, en route to District 23 and one of Gensei Kihara's private research facilities.

Based on satellite footage, they determined that Dr. Kiyama was also tailing the suspected trailers, clearly intent on saving the children herself. With a clear objective in mind, the group equipped themselves appropriately for what was sure to be the final confrontation.

The entire team was equipped with earpieces as to stay in contact with one another in addition to this Konori donned her old leather jacket, Saten grabbed a metal baseball bat, and Misaka made a call to someone who she thought could help.

"Hello? Railgun-Senpai?"

Once she explained the situation to Nayuta, how they found the missing children and how Theristina was the one who took them Nayuta didn't seem that surprised.

Apparently, she knew that Theristina her 'cousin', was a fanatic when it came to following Gensei.

She offered to help but asked why she called her instead of 'him?' He too was currently here in the facility.

"It's not that I don't want to ask him, it's just ...I don't really think he'll be able to do that much in this situation"

Her words were true. This wasn't a fight in which Kamijou could win given what he would be up against due to how his powers operated.

Anything using any kind of supernatural power, even if it were part of God's system, would be negated without question by that supernatural power of his.

However, Kamijou's Imagine Breaker only worked on the supernatural power itself. Simply, he could negate an esper's fireball, but he was still vulnerable to the concrete shards broken by the fireball.

His 'other' power wasn't any better since it needed someone who could use supernatural powers to even be useful.

So in a fight against crazed mechanized scientists, he would not fare any better than she did when she went up against Theristina the last time.

After a bit convincing Nayuta managed to talk Misaka into at least asking him.

Misaka gave in and asked Nayuta to put 'him on the line.

"Hello?"

"Hey…"

"Oh, how's it going Mikoto?"

Misaka sighed, she knew that if she were to ask him for help that he would come running.

"...I was just calling to see how Index was going."

"Hmm? She's fine. Do you wanna talk to her she's right here."

"No, No it's fine. I'll call you back, I-I've got something I need to do right now."

"Okay, good luck then."

Misaka smiled, "Thanks."

There were many reasons why she didn't ask for help.

He couldn't do anything here.

He wouldn't be able to get here on time.

He….he would get hurt.

Once Mikoto saw how her friends looked at her once she woke up after losing to Theristinan she knew that she didn't want to have that feeling again.

In a way, Kamijou was like her and it was for that reason why she didn't ask him for his help.

For if he were to come he would most likely face the same fate that she did when she challenged Theristina.

Was it selfish?

Yes.

But if not wanting someone you care to get hurt was selfish, then she was one of the most self-centered people you'd ever meet.

With the call now ended, Misaka Mikoto went to save those children who she put in harm's way and stop Theristina from destroying the city.

* * *

**Part 3**

"WHAT!?"

Nayuta nodded.

Once Nayuta saw that Mikoto didn't tell Touma what was actually going on she decided to tell him herself.

She wasn't about to announce it to the entire room, just to him, but after the scene, he just made they would have to.

Picking himself off the bed Touma made his way to the door.

"AH HAA! I knew you were faking!" Shouted Maria as she pointed towards him.

Touma simply walked past her.

"HEY!"

"Touma, what's wrong?"

Touma sighed, "Mikoto's in trouble, so I'm gonna go help her."

The room seemed to stand still as he simply started to walk off once again.

"W-What? Kamijou your not making any sense. And why do you still have that bad habit of calling girls by their first name!" Shouted Maria.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"...Regardless you heard Onee-chan. She's not gonna let you out of here if you're still registered to be here."

Touma sighed,

After all the trouble he went through to get back in her good graces.

"Don't worry about it, I'll take the blame. For now, I'm gonna go help save Kiyama-sensei's students. "

Index tilted her head at that familiar name, "Kiyama-sensei...that's the lady we talk to the other day, right? If her students really are in trouble I think that you should go help them."

Touma nodded as he continued to walk forward until he felt someone grab his wrist.

When he turned around at first he didn't see anyone, that is until he looked down.

There still laid on his back, Sogiita grabbed his wrist.

"Y-You're still gonna go to help them even though you hurt?"

"I can still walk, can't I? I can still reach my hands forward, can't I? If I can do all of that then why wouldn't I try to help them?"

Sogiita smiled as he rolled out of bed and fell straight to the floor.

The room seemed to stop and stare as he struggled to get to his knees so he could point himself towards a nearby wall.

Sogiita took a deep breath and…

"***Amazing Punch!***"

***BOOOOM!***

A hole the size of a bus appeared on the wall that spanned all the way to the exit.

Everyone's mouths gaped open at the sight of this.

"I-I can't really move all that well right now...S-So this is the least I could do for you, I hope it helps."

Touma chuckled nervously as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Y-Yeah it does...t-though I don't know how I'm gonna explain this to 'Senpai'"

Once Kamijou helped Sogiita back to his bed he made his way off through the new 'exit'.

Before drifting back into unconsciousness Sogiita spoke once more.

"Go save those kids ...Kamijou-sensei…"

"Eh?"

Touma brushed that last line off as he began to make his way out.

At the sight of this Nayuta turned to Aihana.

"Hey, Aihana-Senpai do you remember someone with the name Edasaki Banri"

For a brief moment, Aihana didn't react as she looked to be in deep thought.

"I-I think I remember her ...Yeah, Yeah Edisaki-chan! She was an underclassman of mine when I still went to 'that there'. Though I haven't seen her in over 7 years now. Why are you bringing her up now?"

Nayuta smiled for a moment before her face regained the composure she had once before.

"Banri Onee-san….A while ago She defended me when I was ...in a bad place. I called them all names like 'flawed items' but even after all of that she still defended me. I..I couldn't understand why. When I asked her, she said that they all already knew they were called that by the adults, but even so they didn't give up and her innocent smile never faded...they had this teacher Kiyama-sensei she taught them that even though they were abandoned by this city, she told them that they all could reach Level 4 or even Level 5...She was a good person who was on the wrong side of things and because of that Banri Onee-san and the rest of her class..."

The room seemed to quiet down as they watched Nayuta bite her lip.

"T-There was an accident in the experiment they were all a part of. Banri Onee-san and the others ended up in a coma because of it. I-I knew my family was involved in the accident just so they could see the end results through. I couldn't come to terms with what really happened, but I knew I never wanted something like that to happen ever again, so I thought. If I became a guinea pig for all sorts of experiments, the number of children who would be sacrificed will be reduced. And because of that, I let myself be used. However, there was a problem in an experiment, more than half of my body got blown up. And because of that, this happened."

The room seemed to scan the girl carefully and they could see it. Part of her body had been blown up and was replaced by mechanical parts. She was a cyborg.

"However, I just treated that as "power" and accepted it. I wanted power so I could fulfill Banri Onee-san's dream..to become a Level 5 just like the one she saw before…. I...I know I might be imposing since I was a part of the same group that caused you so much trouble but...can you help me?"

Nayuta felt a hand on her shoulder.

She looked up to see a sniffling Aihana.

"***Sob*** O-Okay! But why'd you have to make me cry! I would've helped if you just asked you didn't have to ***hic*** tell me all that! ***Sob***"

Nayuta smiled.

"There, there Aihana-senpai."

"***Sigh*** Hearing all of that, I can't in good conscious stop Kamijou now, can I? I guess I'll help you guys out by stalling Onee-chan as long as I can."

"Oi runt, stay here with the weird-neon looking maid over there."

"HEY!"

Index turned to Yuki, "Hmm?"

"Idiot probably doesn't even know how he's gonna get there even if does make it out of here. Hell, I wouldn't put it past him to try to walk across that barren land full of Anti-Personnel weapons."

Index smiled as they all went through the 'exit'

She wasn't worried about them.

She knew that they would be able to save those students.

* * *

**Part 4**

"Huh? What're you guys doing here?"

"Tch! I fucking called it."

Accelerator looked at Touma as he was beginning to walk through what most would consider no man's land. It would seem he didn't notice the plethora of non-supernatural firepower that covered it.

Aihana looked shocked as she saw him stand there, "K-Kamijou you know that there are mines there, right!?"

"EH!? ARE YOU JOKING!?"

"NO! GET OUT OF THERE!"

* * *

**Part 5**

"Ah, I see, so you all wanna help too."

The group narrowed their eyes at the boy.

"Don't act like you didn't just walk into a literal minefield a few minutes ago."

"...At any rate, how are we gonna get across?"

This unlucky bastard wasn't going to get away without taking criticism.

"Dumbass."

"Idiot."

"Kamijou I know I just met you, but you're seriously an idiot!"

Now that they got that out of the way, it still left them with the unanswered question, as to how they were going to get passed this 'No man's land'.

As the group was brainstorming idea's Aihana's eyes traveled to the parking lot of the facility.

While the train car was one way to enter the facility, it wasn't by any stretch the only way.

If you had a car you could drive on the mile-long road that went up to this facility.

Her eyes were naturally drawn to a bright red sports car in the lot.

She stared at it for a few minutes before being reminded of a movie she watched when she was younger.

"I have an idea."

* * *

**Part 6**

Kiyama-Sensei chased the two MAR trucks down Urban Expressway 5 at top speed.

She disregarded every traffic law in Academy City and pushed her sports car to the limit for the sole purpose of catching those two trucks which held her students.

She was rather shocked when the walls of the trucks unfolded, revealing them to be filled with MAR Powered Suits, each one of them manned with a grenade launcher all aiming at her.

Before she could do anything she could hear it.

***BIRI BIRI***

A Surge of electricity that came from seemingly appeared out of nowhere brushed them all aside.

"What was that?" Kiyama asked as she brought her car to a screeching halt.

She stepped out of her car and looked back to see Mikoto, Kuroko, and Uiharu all standing before her.

What are you doing? Why the hell did you choose now of all times to interfere?!" the doctor demanded, "Answer me!"

Her answer was delayed by the sudden arrival of Konori, Saten on the Judgement Branch Chief's personal motorcycle.

"Kiyama-Sensei, those trucks are only decoys!" Uiharu explained.

"The children are on another set of trucks to a different facility," Saten added.

"What? Then whe- Hey, what do you think you're doing?!" the baggy-eyed teacher protested as Uiharu and Saten let themselves into her car.

"I'll be your Navigator!" Uiharu said pulling out a small handheld computer.

"You wanna save those kids right!? Hurry up!" Added Saten.

Kiyama-Sensei gave the students a confused look, which was returned with a stern and determined look from Mikoto.

Seeing as complying was her best option, Kiyama got into her car and drove down the expressway. Leaving the three of them there.

During the time that they were getting away, the remaining Powered Suit Operators recovered and prepared to counter-attack.

The three didn't seem too worried until they were caught off guard by the sudden appearance of two helicopters armed with Gatling Guns.

"Umm.."

"Helicopters, huh?" Kuroko mused nervously.

"Wait what's that!?"

The three girl's eyes all shot upwards as they saw something that made the helicopters seem...rather mundane.

Before either of them could say a word they mouth gaped open as they recognized what they were seeing.

"NO WAY!"

* * *

**Before**

"What was that noise?"

"Onee-chan!"

The two girls turned around to see Maria and Index run towards them.

"Sister, what was that commotion before?"

"Hm ...Sogiita-san woke up and caused a fuss but Kamijou managed to get him back in bed."

"Tch, that moron better not be trying to pull anything."

"Onee-chan there's something in your office I need to show you two."

Both girls looked confused but complied.

"What is it you wanted to show us?"

Maria sighed, "Onee-chan can you pull up the security cameras for outside the facility?"

"Yeah, give me a second," After a moment of Seria logging in and pulling up the security cameras that were stationed around the facility she turned to her sister, "What is it that I'm supposed to be looking for?"

"Pull up the camera that's nearest outside the infirmary."

"There is no camera, the infirmary all the way ins-," Seria's face paled as she realized what she was implying.

After moments of frantically searching through the cameras, Seria eventually found the camera that showed her the 'exit' that Sogiita had made.

"Maria what did you.."

"Wait is that them?"

The two of them then looked in horror as they saw the group's choice of transportation.

Tap Tap

Misaki turned around to see Index.

"Touma wanted me to tell you he's sorry."

* * *

**I would suggest playing RISE by MADKID here.**

* * *

"Are we sure about this!?"

"Shut up idiot! This is the best idea that loner has ever had."

"You're the last person who should be saying that!"

Once they were all situated in the car they all heard it.

"KAMIJOU WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!?"

"TOUMA WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!?"

Touma stuck his head out the driver's side window and said…

"I'M SO SORRY!"

***TAP***

And like that the car that Aihana had made weightless, unaffected by gravity started to float up into the air.

In the next second, Accelerator's head popped out of the passenger's side window...

**In the office…**

Both girl's mouth gaped open as they both knew what was about to unfold.

"He wouldn't!"

Grabbing the microphone Misaki spoke.

"YUKI DON'T YOU DARE!"

**Now…**

"Heh"

Looking directly into the camera Accelerator the #1 Esper in all of Academy City couldn't help but burst out laughing all the while smiling.

***TAP***

And like that, the floating car rocketed its way into the air and towards the Facility.

At the sight of this Maria and Index couldn't help but smile.

* * *

**Now**

"Tch! Why the hell did you make me stop!?"

"Mikoto's down there...so who wants to go down there to help?"

Aihana rolled her window down and poked her head out to see that Mikoto and her group were surrounded by helicopters armed with Gatling guns. She waved.

They didn't seem to be that happy to see her.

"Oh, that doesn't look good."

She then stuck her hand out the window and started to slowly lower it.

In less than a second, all of the helicopters and all the Powered Suits were slammed into the ground.

Aihana then turned to Nayuta.

"Remember how you blew up my house and kidnapped me?"

Nayuta nervously nodded.

Aihana simply stuck her hand over her and open the door.

They were about 30 meters above them currently.

Aihana then tapped her on the shoulder and said.

"We're even now."

Nayuta's mouth gaped open as she was nudged out of the car to the ground below.

"AAHHHHHHHH!"

Both boys in the car were also in shock seeing Aihana push someone to their death.

In Unison they stuck their heads out the window to see Nayuta floating down safely.

"I can control gravity remember, so something like falling to my death is impossible so I just made her float down. She's alright," She then stuck her head out the window, "Yeah she's alright."

**Down Below…**

The three girls watched in horror as they saw an elementary school girl fall from the car that was floating above only to float down to safety.

They could hear her mumble about the unfair trade-off.

"N-Nayuta how did you...no when did...now why did you.."

"What's with the floating car!?"

Nayuta scratched her head, "Seems Aihana-senpai is a bit more clever with her powers than we gave her credit for."

"Aihana-san is up there?"

"Along with Kamijou and-"

"WHAT!?"

Mikoto pulled out her phone and dialed.

**Up above…**

"Hey what's-"

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING HERE!?"

Everyone in the car was taken aback as they could hear the yelling.

"Why didn't you tell me that you needed help?"

"Don't change the subject! What're you doing here!?"

"I'm here to help, I don't know why you didn't tell me, but that doesn't change the fact that I can help."

Aihana popped her head over Kamijou's shoulder and spoke.

"Hi, homewrecker."

"What did you just call me!?"

"You blew a giant hole in my wall and left me homeless…..so homewrecker."

It would seem that Aihana was more confident when she didn't have to actually speak to people face to face.

"Tch! Shut up hikikomori!"

"***Sniff***"

Aihana slumped back into her seat looking depressed.

"She took damage from that, didn't she?"

* * *

**Part 7**

"So, you committed grand theft auto, broke most if not all of Academy City's air space laws by flying a car here just to come to help Misaka?" Uiharu asked.

"Yep."

At the sound of this Misaka couldn't help but blush while being driven on the back of Konrii's motorcycle.

Mikoto had patched Touma's call to the rest of her team.

At first, none of her friends believed her when she said that Touma had a flying car.

But when he passed all of them from high above Kiyama-Sensei almost crashed due to its sheer absurdity.

"And you wonder why you get arrested by Judgement so often," Added Kuroko.

"Wow…..just wow, talk about dedication, am I right Misaka?" Saten said jokingly.

Misaka almost fell off the motorcycle if it wasn't for Konorii catching her at the last second.

"W-W-What're you talking about Saten!? H-H-He's just some idiot who doesn't know when not to get involved!"

"Tsu...Tsu...Tsunade?." Kiyama-Sensei mumbled.

Uiharu couldn't help but stare out the window as she saw the car fly by.

It was like something out of a movie or something it was spectacular.

"Hey, Kamijou when this is all over do you think I could get a ride in that thing?" Saten mused.

Touma turned his head and could see both Aihana and Yuki shake their heads.

"S-Sorry, I think it's a onetime deal,"

"Damn it!"

"Tsundree?...In any case," Kiyama-sensei turned her head to see the sight once again, "We'll send you the address to the facility now since you can…..apparently fly, you should be able to get there faster than any of us."

"Got it."

***Crack* *Crack* **

"Hold on!"

***Boom***

The part of the freeway they were above was unearthed as a giant mechanical Powered Suit emerged throwing Konorii's motorcycle along with the two of them into the air.

"HEY ARE YOU OKAY!?"

Touma stuck his head out the window and could vaguely see what was happening.

A large yellow-painted mechanical unit had appeared from seemingly out of nowhere.

It had two large legs to support its weight and had at least 4 arms that had clamps on them; two of which were attached to a large bulky attachment on the torso of the unit.

"HELLO!?"

"I'm fine! I just got tossed up in the air! As you can see, I've taken up car surfing!" Reassured Misaka, "Just go, I got this."

"..."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure. Now get to that facility already! Those kids have been sleeping for long enough!"

"Alright then, I trust you. Good luck"

"As if I need it."

"It was for the other person."

Mikoto couldn't help but smile.

Touma hung up the phone.

"Yuki hit it!"

"Don't fucking order me around!"

***TAP***

The ride was anything but smooth from then on out.

* * *

**Below…**

"Come on, come on! Flee like your lives depend on it Or else I'm gonna crush you! HAHAHA!"

Therestina's sicking laugh could be heard from the speakers of her Gigantic Advanced Movement Armor.

But even with all her threats Mikoto, hanging on to the high-speed moving sports car with Magnizitazion, still stuck her head in the car's window to apologize,

"I'm sorry."

Kiyama-sensei was actually shocked, and that was saying something since she just saw a car fly off into the distance.

"If I was in your position, I would have done the same thing."

Mikoto smiled and she went to face the Giant Gundam machine

"I'll make up for my failure, ***BIRI* BIRI*** Right here and Now!"

A Torrent of Electricity shot at the Mechanized beast only to have it deflected.

"H-How?"

"HAHA HAHAHA! Did you think that would work against me!?"

Therestina's sick laughter continued as she started making her way closer and closer to the car.

A soft metal sound could be heard.

It was actually the sound of Mikoto flicking a coin with her thumb. The coin slowly, slowly, flipped above Mikoto.

Mikoto said, "In that case.."

The coin returned back to Mikoto's thumb, "Take this!"

***BOOM!***

The coin to traveled at the speed of sound. It heated up due to the friction with air, forming an orange laser as it went to hit the Machine however….

It missed.

The reason for this was simple,

Distance.

Due to the sheer power of the Railgun, the coin could only survive for about 50 meters before completely evaporating.

With all of them moving at high speeds down the road 50 meters was nothing as the Colossal Machine just had to slow down for a bit to get out of the attack's range.

"HAHAHA! I already know about all that! I've researched everything that there is to know about your ability! Including your range!"

The Colossal Robot shited its weight slightly and shot out one of the claws at Mikoto.

Kiyama-Sensei barely managed to swerve the car out of the claws path and began to maneuver around the Robots attacks.

"Scamper around, will you! Just give up already! I don't care how much you struggle, you're never gonna be able to save those brats!"

Kiyama-sensei gritted her teeth, "Even so, I swore that I would keep on trying, I...A teacher cannot give up on her students!"

Mikoto smiled at her words.

"Of course they don't. No matter what happens I'll make sure you'll get there. That's the whole reason I'm here after all!"

In one last stand, Mikoto stood back up on the roof of the car Magnetizing her feet to it.

"HAHAHA! What can you do at this point!? JUST DIE ALREADY!"

Therestina once again shot out the claw towards Misaka to end it all.

In the last moment, Misaka jumped off the roof of the car and grabbed onto the claw sending her flying.

Therestina's eyes wavered as they saw bluish-white sparks begin to form all over the claw as it slowed down before eventually being destroyed and thrown into the air by Mikoto.

"Ha! Big deal! I know all of your attacks, you know!"

Once Mikoto finally landed on the asphalt of the streets she turned to face the behemoth of a machine racing towards her

"In that case, let me show you this!

She began to inhale.

"KUROKO!"

And like that she appeared out of nowhere like a thunderbolt in a clear blue sky high above the two of them.

"Onee-sama!"

Bluish white electricity started to form around Mikoto as she began to clench her fist.

"I'm able to fire more than just coins! This is my full power!"

As Mikoto reeled back her fist all the electricity that formed around her body seemed to congregate to her fist.

In a moment, a piece of claw that she had just destroyed appeared before her.

***BIRI**BIRI**BIRI**BIRI***

The moment her fist made impact the cool sleek steel of the claw began to turn red hot orange.

The one hit from Mikoto, also known as the Railgun, caused the claw to travel at three times the speed of sound.

"WHAT!?"

The last thing Therestina saw was a giant pillar of orange light coming towards her.

The giant pillar of orange light cut through her suit like butter before exploding it to smithereens.

The pillar of orange light filled the sky before eventually fading away.

The surrounding area was covered with smoke, but the strong wind pressure that was created scattered the dust away. This was the after-effect of the Railgun compressing the air.

(A-amazing...)

Though Shirai was still wary of the surroundings, she was focused on something else.

(The strong winds created by the shockwave already far surpasses what a wind esper can do. Onee-sama's ability's too terrifying, too stunning!)

On the other side, Mikoto slowly walked towards Kuroko, as if the danger was over.

"See I told you I had it covered."

**WINNER:[MIKOTO MISAKA]**

* * *

**Part 8**

**District 23 **

**Secret Base**

"Hey, Kamijou I gotta ask you something."

"What is it Aihana?"

"Why'd we leave Misaka to face that giant robot alone? I mean I zone out for 5 minutes and then I see a giant robot appear out of nowhere out of the corner of my eye? I mean I could've destroyed that thing while still in the car if you told me about it."

Kamijou nervously scratched his cheek, "Y-You met Mikoto before, right?"

Aihana nodded.

"Then you'd know she's the type of person who doesn't like to take no for an answer. Besides she's a tough person."

Aihana shrugged, "I guess, I still don't know why Yuki decided to stay on the roof of the building though."

"He's a weird kinda guy."

Once the group arrived at the facility the power suits that acted as guards didn't put up much of a threat. In fact, before Touma even noticed that they were there they were completely crushed by some unseen force.

Seeing that there was no reason to go inside Accelerator decided to stay in the car (which was parked on the roof) to take a nap.

"So you know where they are right?"

"Eh!? How would I know I just got here the same as you! I thought you knew!"

Kamijou sighed as he began to take a seat, "I guess we're gonna have to wait for Biri Biri and her friends to get here, huh?"

"If that was the case then why the heck did we even leave the car!? Did you know how it was to find you a way down from there?"

"S-Sorry"

* * *

**Sometime later**

After waiting 'patiently' for Mikoto's group to arrive they finally showed up.

Once they did however Mikoto started laying into Touma about how big of an idiot he was for showing up and for doing it how he did.

While all of this was going on, however, the rest of their group just watched. None of them dared to enter this conversation.

Cold-hearted bastards.

After some yelling and some sparks, they finally managed to make it inside.

Once inside it took Uiharu a while to find out where the children were being held, apparently due to Aihana's 'fighting' the base went on lockdown.

Suffice to say Mikoto's glare was more than enough to make Aihana shrink back down.

They all eventually made it to the lowest level of the facility, where the children were being held and everyone sighed in relief.

Haruue, Edasaki and everyone else was there in some sort of scientific pod.

Once Kiyama-sensei saw her students she fell on her knees in tears of joy.

"Hey, Kiyama-sensei what do we do now?"

Wiping away her tears she answered, "For now let's make use of this equipment here and try to find a way to help them wake up."

* * *

**Above…**

Accelerator woke up.

He had to admit he slept relatively well given the fact that he was in a stolen car.

Deciding that his body was stiff he got out of the vehicle to stretch his legs.

Once outside he decided to sit on the ledge of the roof, legs dangling in the air as he watched the horizon.

However, his peace was cut short when he saw something out of the corner of his eye.

Three small figures approached the facility, however one stuck out to him the most.

She had white skin, a short build, long silver hair that reached her waist, and green eyes. She also wore a showy white nun's habit with gold embroidery that was reminiscent of a nouveau riche teacup. She would have stood out anywhere.

"Oi Runt! What the hell did I say about staying put!"

Index's head popped up as she saw him.

She waved, "No, you said to stay with Maria! And she's right here!"

Accelerator turned to see the Maid in training who was waving back at him.

"Tch!"

"Are the others already inside?" Asked Nayuta.

He gave no response, though they all just interpreted that as a yes.

As they all entered the facility Accelerator continued to sit on the roof.

(Tch! Damn runt! Why the hell did she even show up!? If anything I thought that damned witch would have stopped her from-)

His angry self-rant was cut short however when he saw something out of the corner of his eye.

He smiled as he saw who it was.

This was gonna be a good stress reliever.

* * *

**Between the lines**

Therestina had finally arrived at the entrance to one of her grandfather's secret facilities.

She was covered in wounds, and she was wearing a purple modified power suit that she herself designed to fight the Railgun.

Suffice to say she wasn't having a good day.

She barely managed to survive against the Railgun's attack, a slight miscalculation on her part but no matter.

She had an Ace up her sleeve, the entire facility that they had just entered was full of speakers that contained the program for **Capacity Down**.

Once she got inside she would blare it out and begin her assault.

She made a twisted smile imagining the look of hopeless defeat on all of their faces when they realized that this was the end for them.

She would take her time, of course, she wanted the guinea pigs to regret the day they were ever born and wanted to show them their place.

Therestina carried a distorted smile as she made her way towards the facility.

However, someone was blocking her.

From up above the roof this person jumped down in front of the entrance of the facility.

Therestina didn't care who the person was.

She just felt irritated, not even caring enough to guard herself as she moved forward.

She made up her mind, no matter who the person was, she would let any person who dared to obstruct her die in an extremely painful and ugly manner.

That person walked up to closer towards her.

That person...

"What the hell!?"

Had a crazy, psychotic, and dirty pale look.

"Personally, I would've been fine letting you go inside there and teach those idiots a lesson, but since that damned runt decided to show up things change. That damned witch, I leave one thing up to her and she goes and fucks it up. Well, what can you do, right?"

"Anyway, now that I see you…" That person shook his head, "I was so expectant... only to see that it's third-rate shit like you!? If I had known that my opponent would be a third-rate thing like you, I would have been too lazy to get out of the damn car! You really are troublesome for me!"

The person standing in front of her was the strongest Level 5 in Academy City. Skin that was so pale it was terrifying.

"A-A-A-Accelerator!"

The #1 let out a chuckle.

"Yes finally! Thank you! Not to sound self-centered, but it's about damn time I got the proper recognition I deserve! It almost makes me want to spare you...Nah."

"Ugh... ah...!"

With a glance at him, Therestina's breathing and heartbeat stopped for an instant.

Therestina's lungs wriggled about in a weird manner. Her mind was in chaos, not even sure whether she should inhale or exhale.

(This guy is...! This... this is bad! Not... not even the Railgun can beat him... how can I take him on!?)

The difference in power was too great.

It was not enough to even use "an ordinary person vs a professional athlete" to describe the difference in their power.

It was like a tug-of-war match between a human and a jet. It wasn't a question of who would win or lose. The jet could just not do anything and the human couldn't even move it by a single centimeter.

It was over.

Everything was over.

Therestina's expression changed due to despair.

At that moment...

"...I got it."

"I got it! That's right, you're here to save those damn brats too! I never expected someone like you to care but that has to be it! HAHAHA!"

Therestina went into a compartment in her suit and pulled something out.

"HAHAHA! You can't touch me you damned guinea pig not as long as I have this! This is the **First Sample**, without this those shitty brats in there have no chance in waking up! HAHA! All you can do is stand there and watch as I complete the Ability crystal! HAHA! With this Grandfather won't need a shitty Lab rat like you to achieve Level 6!

Therestina cheered like the victor as she waved a small cylinder of glass around.

Accelerator, who was standing in front of her was slightly shocked, and calmly said,

"What a pity."

He paused, waiting for a breeze to pass through.

"You really are a shit villain aren't you? I actually feel sorry for you. What grandpa didn't love you enough so you decided to do this? What a waste."

"Haha! Stop faking it! If so, why are you just standing there? Why aren't you attacking me? It's not that you don't want to attack, you can't attack, right? Because you know that the second you move I'll shatter this and all those shitty brats will die!"

Therestina loudly proclaimed in a mocking tone, but the white figure just narrowed his eyes.

"You're really pitiful. Listen, I'll tell you one thing, the only reason I don't outright rip your head off right here is that your screams would get that runt back up here. It's more as though it would be a hassle to clean up your corpse than it would be to actually do it. So I'm just waiting for her to get far enough down so she won't hear you scream."

Talking up to that point, Accelerator paused for a while.

The sound of silence could be heard.

Accelerator revealed a distorted smile.

Using the feet that were supporting him on the ground, he stomped hard on it.

A shockwave from below to above happened on the hard surface. Accelerator bent his body, and with his feet at the center, a radial crack appeared in the asphalt ground shooting him towards her like a bullet.

Before Therestina could make a move a thick crunching sound could be heard.

When she turned her head she saw something that horrified her.

The mechanical arm that was holding the First sample had been ripped off as cleanly and as easily as tissue paper by the #1.

Before she could say a word she felt him rest his hand upon the chest of the suit.

***Crack***

Therestina coughed up blood as her body was thrown like a ragdoll.

"Heh! I mean honestly what a cliche! You pull out your big 'hostage' and don't expect me to just rip it out of your hands! All your missing is an eye patch and a cat and you'd be all set to go to Hollywood for one of those D rank movies!"

Therestina continued to cough up blood as she struggled to her feet.

At that moment, Therestina's mind turned blank.

She was panicking and she did something only an idiot would do.

She pointed her one good mechanical arm towards the boy and pulled out a lance.

"I have a plan B! I'm gonna blow you and this whole place away!"

Therestina held out her lance, which then split apart into a four-pronged claw, surging with electricity.

"I designed this particular weapon after the Railgun! It's more powerful than even her strongest attack!"

Accelerator let out a smile as he extended his arms side to side, "Heh, you know what go ahead! I always wondered how the original stacked up against those shitty windup dolls anyway! Let me have!"

The lance started to surge with more and more power before beginning to get ready to fire.

"Prepare to die you shitty Lab rat!"

A giant pillar of orange light shot out of the lance at the Mach 2 towards the white-haired boy.

***BOOOM!*...*Ding***

Despair started to set in when Therestina saw her ultimate weapon get deflected and shot up in the air.

"Tch! I gotta say I'm not impressed. I was expecting... something more than that. Then again I guess comparing 'her' to the other girl from before is setting too high a standard. Well then, I might as well finish this."

Accelerator crushed the cracked asphalt road even further, shooting him towards her like a rocket.

Besides changing the vector forces on his feet, four high-powered tornadoes were attached to his back.

He clenched his fist.

The fist carried the entire speed and force of his body, slamming towards Therestina's face.

Therestina, who had given up on offense, immediately used her remaining mechanical arm as a shield. However, that negligible defense was broken to pieces instantly once Accelerator's iron fist slammed it.

Pieces of it flew around like confetti in the air.

"I'm sorry, from here on now, the path is only a one-way road!" The #1 curled his lips and smiled. "You can't advance, just cry your way back home to grandpa like a good bitch!"

The hard fist pierced through her mechanical arm at a terrifying speed and smashed her face.

Therestina's body was sent flying away eventually crashing into a nearby M.A.R Truck completely destroying it.

She released a strange gurgle sound as her jaw was completely shattered along with most of her face.

Once he landed back on his feet he made his way back to the first mechanical arm he ripped off to pick up the First Sample.

He turned his head to look back at the pitiful sight that was Theristina.

"Hmm? I guess she knows something about the project ...Eh, it doesn't matter, either way, it's not like she can tell anybody like that."

As he began to make it to the entrance he was met with a familiar face.

"Hey, Yuki what the hell is happening out here!? We all heard a *boom* inside and-"

The Misfortunate boy was silenced when he caught something that the #1 threw at him.

"Typical, the 'hero' always shows up after all the real fighting is done, why don't you go make yourself useful and go hand that over to the woman who looks like a hot mess in there. It's something called a First Sample."

Kamijou's eyes widen as he inspected it.

"Now if you don't mind I'm heading back. I'm not in the mood for crowds right now."

As he walked away into the sunset like something that you'd see in one of those western movies he was stopped by a voice calling out to him.

"Hey, Yuki! I don't really buy into the whole Heroes and Villains cliche…..but if I had to choose, I'd say you'd be a **hero**."

The #1 froze in his tracks from that line.

"Whatever."

* * *

**Below…**

"Kamijou what the heck was going on up there!?"

"Is it another attack!?"

Kamijou shook his head as he approached Kiyama-Sensei.

"Yuki said that this would help you wake up those kids."

Kiyama-sense's eyes widen as she registered what she was seeing.

"H-How did he.."

"So will it help?"

Kiyama-Sensei eyes nearly watered as she nodded.

* * *

After a long and tedious process, Dr. Kiyama was finally able to complete her awakening program thanks to the data from the First Sample. Although hesitant at first, the former teacher was given the courage to run her program thanks to a message passed over to her from Edasaki through Haruue. At long last, after many years, the children had finally woken up.

Kiyama-sensei stood over Edesaki waiting to see when her student would open her eyes for the first time in years.

"T-Teacher?"

Kiyama's heart and breathing stopped as she saw her open her eyes.

"Teacher ...Why do you have those dark circles under your eyes?"

Tears of joy began to stream down her face.

"I've ...been busy...with a lot of things ***Sob***"

One by one all of her students began to wake up.

"Hey is that Nayuta? Yeah, there's no way I could forget your face even if you changed your hair color."

Nayuta began to let out tears from her eye, "It's good to see you Banarii Onee-san"

"Alright, can I finish saying it now?" Kiyama asked, turning to the students that helped her in her endeavor, "Thank you so much."

The students could only smile.

* * *

**I would recommend playing 'Dear My Friend Remix English version'**

* * *

**Epilogue**

**August 8**

We have to hurry!" Uiharu cried, "I don't want to miss it!"

"Misaka, Shirai, it's not like you to be late," Saten noted.

"Honestly, of all days, Onee-sama, this is the one you chose to sleep in on!"

"Oh hush, you were sleeping every bit as soundly as I was!" Mikoto retorted.

The group of friends ran through the streets of Academy City, clearly in a rush to get somewhere.

Today was a special day that they did not want to miss out on.

"I have to admit, I'm kind of surprised," Uiharu said as they ran, "I never would have expected Misaka to come up with something like this."

"What are you talking about?" Saten asked, "It's sweet, and generous, and thoughtful, just like Misaka is."

"Yeah, you're right!" Uiharu agreed.

Despite the group's desperate attempt to get to their destination, they found themselves stopping on a bridge when Kuroko received a call from Konori.

Apparently, Therestina was still in the ICU in a catatonic state.

"Honestly, I think Kamijou's friend went a bit overboard with how he dealt with Theristina when they found her, she was still shaking in fear for her life." Shirai mused.

Mikoto snickered, "Nah, servers her right. In fact, when I finally do see that idiot's friend I gotta thank him for that."

"Onee-sama…"

"Look, up there!" Uiharu cried, pointing up at the sky.

The rest of the group turned to where she was pointing to see the main event of their plans flying by. With Mikoto's influence as a Level 5, they were able to arrange for one of the blimps to present a special message for a certain researcher.

* * *

**Kiyama-Sensei's hospital room**

After yesterday's events, Kiyama-Sensei was admitted to the hospital due to exhaustion. She was very keen on the idea, but after having your own students who you haven't seen in years tell you to go she really didn't have much of a choice.

"***Sigh***"

She was currently reading a magazine on something or another that was already here.

However, the sound of a blimp floating by constantly distracted her.

That was when the Blimp started to send out a message.

"Happy Birthday!"

Kiyama-sensei's eyes widened as she recognized the voice.

She turned her head to see her students on the blimp's screen.

"Get well soon Teacher!"

"We'll do the same!"

"I'll be waiting for you, teacher!"

"Me too!"

Edasaki's face then appeared with a sweet smile plastered on, "Thank you Miss Kiyama!"

"We love you!"

Tears of joy streamed down her cheeks as she saw her precious students smile.

* * *

**A Certain Park**

"Tch! Here your stupid music box! You wouldn't imagine the looks I was getting when buying this thing!"

Index smiled, "Thank you" She then pointed to the Blimp flying overhead, "You saw it right?"

"Yeah, what about it?"

Index smiled, "Touma told me that you were the one who got the last piece to help save those kids."

Accelerator turned his head gaze to Kamijou who just smiled and shrugged.

"What of it!?"

Index and Touma smiled as they both turned the boy to face the blimp once again.

'**We also want to thank the boy who helped wake us up!'**

In unison, all the students spoke.

"**Thank you, Yuki!"**

The shock on Accelerator's face was something to behold.

And this time they brought a camera.

***Flash!***

He didn't seem to notice as he was too busy staring at the screen in shock.

"Which one of you did this!? Which one of you did this!?"

The two of them laughed as he continued screaming.

* * *

Once the message on the blimp ended Mikoto started stretching clearly satisfied with how the event turned out despite not being there in person.

The rest of her group smiled at this simple action.

"There's never really is a dull moment, is there? Huh?" Mikoto mused.

"Not in this city."

**FIN**

* * *

**Author's Notes**

**Finally, the Arc is over!**

**And finally, we got to see Touma vs Gunha.**

**Personally, I always wanted to see a fight between them that didn't involve him purposely holding back. I mean it's not interesting if he purposely limits himself on where he can attack. That's why I had him take a page out of Thor's book and 'Aim for the head'**

**By the way, do any of you know how much money Index and Aihana just made from winning that bet?**

**Now that the Arc is over which was your favorite fight overall in this arc?**

**By the way, how much trouble do you think Touma got in with Misaki after pulling that stunt?**

**Thank you all once again for reading A Certain Scientific Counter! **

**The next chapter is the start of the...**

**Deep Blood Arc**.


	29. Chapter 29 In to Deep Blood

**Hey, thanks for reading a Certain Scientific Counter. Thank you for everyone who left a review and I'd like to thank my Beta-Reader Graeskog for helping me edit this chapter. Did you all read the Newest Chapter of a Certain Scientific Dark Matter! The only thing that Matters is my Dark Matter. I swear he's like my favorite Dark side leader. I feel as though he's a bit nicer to his subordinates than Mugino but that's not saying much since she's...Mugino. Ahh, summer is almost over and with that comes back to school... I was hoping to have this reach the Sister's Arc by this time, but so is life. After writing out the layout for the Sister's Arc I realized that its probably gonna be the longest Arc. Thank you for sticking by me and without further ado Q&A,**

**Lecarsteti- Thank you for the comment and don't worry I have something in mind for the Sister's Arc.**

**D.N Works-Glad to see the #1 is the first in your list but it wasn't so much as a fight as it was a slaughter. And yeah Gunha put up one hell of a fight but in the end, his overconfidence led him to his downfall. He really isn't the type to come up with genius strategies like Touma so he eventually got tricked into taking his attack back in the face. For round 2...depends. Thank you for the comment.**

**Aminadab Brulle- Yes the fight was gutsy! The self-proclaimed hero against the man who doesn't need any titles. And the flying car scene...Animan had a hoverboard so I brought out a car. I'm glad you got the reference...all Nayuta wanted was to get a closer look, what a smart girl. Thank you for the comment.**

**tsun- You're right there did the math...damn at least they don't have to worry about food money anymore. And I'm still trying to get a handle on fight scenes my forte is more along the lines of dialogue for now but practice makes perfect and hey from reading the earlier chapters I'm doing better. And we'll see if he learns a new technique but for now, the situation hasn't arrived for it. Thank you for the comment.**

**Anti-Mage 29- Thank you and yeah Stiyl is pretty salty after basically being shown up by the new kid. Thank you for the comment.**

**Lone Sheep in mall- Thank you for the high praise. I'm glad you like the fight scene, I was gonna add music to it but I couldn't find the right song that fit into it. The car was a just... a hilarious decision. And RISE is my favorite song! I was waiting for the right moment to put it into this fic because it fits so well with the main theme. A man who doesn't call himself a hero ut still act like one. As for Yuki dealing his own brand of Justice, she had it coming for being such a two-bit villain some may disagree while others may laugh at watching her basically having a mental breakdown no one can argue with the results. Thank you for your comment.**

**Fortitude501- Thank you for the compliment and yeah it was a callback. If you call Sogiita's powers hax then you would have to call Kamijou's powers broken since he can nullify whatever he does. We'll see how she deals with him. Thank you for the comment.**

**nameless- Kamijou-sensei...enough said. And yeah we are missing information on his left hand's ability to fully understand the fight it but given the basic principle of it, you can tell that it just counters whatever is thrown at it. Thank you for doing the math, no way in hell was I gonna do that, I just picked those odds from a betting article. And nice compensation I'm sure the Queen would approve. And flying couch? I think I heard of it but I don't remember the story it was from. Touma's left-hand does something like that but if you reread a previous chapter it explains what happens when he absorbs something. And for leveling up Imagine Breaker...Maybe but it probably wouldn't help him much in any of the bigger fights like Acqu since all he has to do is pick up that big club and punt him over the horizon. And speaking of Kakine did you read the A Certain Scientific DarkMatter! The only thing that matters is my Dark Matter! Good Harem ideas. Thank you for the review!**

**Sirius962-To answer your question I'll give you a quote from the previous chapter. "A white inferno of light burst forth. Even now, the last of the electrical blasts were carving their way through clouds high in the sky, on their way toward the shining sun." So to answer your question, yep. Like your theory and Thank you for the comment!**

**BlueJack22- Hey I love that song too! It's on my top ten anime songs of all time! We'll you don't have to wait anymore. Thank you for the comment.**

**Rajarshi Sarkar- Nah Sogiita was never a good fighter. He only knows moves he saw from anime and even then he can only copy the powers, not the skill. Touma won the fight because Sogiita just lacked the experience that came from fighting someone stronger than him. And as for the science I'm not gonna look too deep into it, but your under the assumption that Aihana's only power is Gravity Manipulation when it was said it was something more akin to Psychokinesis something that Accelerator can manipulate. And the actual Railgun storyline was about 3 episodes so I extended it the best I could into 5 chapters. And New chapter.**

**Chris- No problem happy to read your reviews again. Yes, they suspect a Level 5 which can never be a good thing. And she's not against punishing hi but she's against outright killing him which would probably happen if they cripple him to the point where he can't use his powers anymore. And yeah Touma wanted a quick trip to the grocery store only to get caught up in a drug-smuggling operation and get chased by a bomber girl. But hey his bluff level is going up. And yeah it's only a matter of time bere the #4 arrives. And yeah gravity manipulation is pretty OP and pretty useful in real life too. Thank you for the comment.**

**Chris- Yes it seems I subverted your expectations with JoJo's menacing symbols and revealed to you a Hibikineet otaku neet. And yeah who would try to annoy a one man army. Yeah it's not everyday Touma gets to relax...but when he does then you know something big is gonna happen in the future. And poor Aihana, she pushed the old hag button...you shouldn't have done that. And yes all the plot threads are leading back to one common theme. What will happen next?**

**Justsomeguy- He gained control over his left hand's power not Imagine breaker. He was just VERY careful not to touch anything since if that car did fall out of the sky he would be the only casualty since both Aihana and Accelerator can survive that fall no problem. And Imagine breaker would stop the car from floating if he was making direct contact with it. Remember she's not actively aiming at Kamijou she's aiming at the car which is pretty hard to do. That's why she was so against doing something like this again since it's exhausting since she could just fly fine by herself. And thank you for the comment!**

**Chris- Yes COma children are the true culprits!And the big reveal! I hope she gets what's coming to her! Add yeah Aihana is pretty awkward but when you spend all day by yourself you do tend to become some. And I wonder what Misaki plans to do with the girl who's socially inept and almost defeated Misaka? It's not like she would want some kind of deterrent against a certain Biri Biri or something. And yeah Capacity Down got an upgrade and we finally find out the true culprit behind the big spider Arc! And yeah, poor Touma always at the wrong place at the wrong time but yeah think of it like this if she never met him he would've died on the spot since his lungs pierced his ribs which caused him to suffocate. And yeah Accel does love his humor. Now for the fight, we've all been waiting for! Super Son Japanese Boy Against the Misfortunate One!**

**Chris- Thank you for the compliment! And I wanted a true fight between the two no holds bar! In the past Sogiita only targeted Touma's hands but this time he aimed for the face! No longer does Touma hold back his punches afraid that he's gonna seriously hurt somebody a pure fight! And yeah Yuki bet against him. Touma finally stepping up in his role as a Protector, this was hinted at when he wanted to train with Biri Biri so if something like what happened with Index the first time comes around again he would be ready. He made a Promise to get strong enough so that nobody could ever hurt her again. And yeah he bet against himself. It can never hurt to have Fate on your side. Uppercut for the win! And yeah Seria explained his powers in a way so that it deturs Gunha from fighting him again without learning beforehand. His powers are to destroy Illusions something which Sogiita needs in order to win. Glad you like the scene between Misaki and Touma but there was no way Beauty Senpai was just gonna stand by and watch that. And Yuki finally puts that two-bit villain up and sends her straight for the ICU. Sorry, Mikoto a Flying car is like the golden snitch of an argument. And yes finally onto Deep Blood!**

**Chris- When you posted this I was actually finished writing the confrontation with them. I was surprised how close our argument was to each other. In any case, I love you Omake and all the misfortunate things that occurred to our protagonist in it. Also, I'd like to thank you for leaving these reviews it always helps seeing how a reader views the chapters. So thank you for your continued support.**

**Muramasa96- Thank you for the compliment. And don't worry nobody knows what Sogiita's power is not even Sogiita knows. Thank you for the comment!**

* * *

**Werewolves of London and Vampires of Japan**

**August 8**

**McRonalds**

It was said that to understand someone, you must simply look at the company they keep.

"Kamijou…."

"...such misfortune…."

Kamijou Touma muttered as if he just lost terribly in a great battle. He was finally tracked down by the person he owes so majorly screwed over.

It was really unfortunate.

However, that was basically Kamijou Touma's everyday life.

Besides, he was a very popular guy simply because his friends felt that with him around, he could absorb all of their bad luck like a lightning rod.

The problem was that it was a precarious situation right now.

"I'm waiting…."

His two companions could only stare on as they watched Kamijou shrink down into his chair, trying his best to avoid her glare.

Index, who originally wanted to go get ice cream only to get sent here instead watched the two while taking sips from one of her many milkshakes.

"I'm…..sorry."

Aihana who had always been a calm and rational individual felt a small tick mark appear on her head from that response.

There was no way in hell a simple 'I'm sorry' was gonna cut it.

"You're sorry? I'm sorry because I think that's not gonna cut it!"

Staring at this pathetic show that was called a confrontation the #1 only had one question

"Not that I care, but what the hell did he do anyway?"

Aihana turned to Kamijou and glared, "Do you wanna tell him or should I?"

Touma motioned for the very angry esper to sit down as he began to explain.

"Well, it all started when we went back to the facility…"

* * *

**Past…**

**August 7**

"So? Let's hear it."

I had been told to take a seat.

Misaki towering over me, arms crossed in front of her chest.

I finally made it back to the facility to drop off Aihana and when we arrived we were ordered to go to Senpai's office.

We tried to sneak out as quietly as we could, but it was no use.

They captured us right away and thus started the interrogation.

"You ran off to Misaka-san, did you~~? So now, Touma, what do you have to say for yourself, huh~~?"

Of course, she was angry with me. I couldn't blame her or her luscious golden locks for flexing toward the ceiling in anger.

What's worse was that 'Senpai' was standing right next to her, with an equally scary look on her face.

Aihana was so anxious I could feel it from here.

"S-S-Shokuhou. Please be merciful with Kamijou…!"

"Aihana, be quiet."

"Hieee!"

Senpai shut down Aihana's attempt to protect me without even looking at her.

"So, you broke out of the facility, hijacked someone's car and made your way to Misaka-san...am I getting that all right?"

"B-But I did it to.."

I was cut off by my Senpai who decided to speak.

"To save Kiyama Harumi's missing students, correct."

Sweat ran down my head as I heard her begin to speak.

"Do you even understand the amount of trouble that stunt caused? Do you realize I had to call every air space defense station around Academy City just so they didn't shoot you down on sight?"

I fidgeted in my chair for a bit at her words.

The worst part about it was the look Misaki gave me, it was like she was disappointed in me or something.

"And here I thought that we came to an understanding. If you wanted to go help them you could've just asked. You didn't have to break out of here like one of those action movies."

"I-I just needed to get there as fast as possible a-and I didn't have time to ask you and-"

"You have a phone, don't you?"

And there goes my only excuse.

My only option left was to grovel and beg for forgiveness.

"I'm so sorry."

"..."

My head slumps down like a puppet whose strings have been cut.

"…I have one question; whose idea was it to use the car in the first place."

All eyes in the room were on me.

I wanted to tell her everything.

However, when we first decided to go with Aihana's idea she made everyone promise that if anyone asks, that it wasn't her idea.

Apparently, her line of thinking was, they can't blame me if I was just an accomplice, right?

I wanted to keep that promise with Aihana but at the same time…

"I'm waiting Touma…"

I'm trapped between the promise and Shokuhou's icy death stare.

My mouth began to open and…

"I-It was m…."

I felt a hand grab onto my shoulder.

"Touma, look me in the eyes and say it…"

I slowly raise my head only to find those golden starry eyes staring into the depths of my soul.

My will started to waver as she continued to look at me. My voice died in my throat as she did.

"Well…"

I'll be the first to admit it.

I cracked.

"It was Aihana's idea."

"What the hell!?"

I clutched my head and shrunk down as both girls glared at her as though this was all her fault.

It seemed as though they thought I was innocent, and they were going to blame everything on Aihana.

"N-No it's not what you think! W-We were all trying to come up with ideas and-"

Aihana's desperate attempts to save her own skin were quashed when Senpai spoke.

"Did you know the car that you totaled was mine?"

I'd never seen 'Senpai' look that mad before.

Aihana's legs seemed about ready to give out on her as she realized what it looked like.

The previous day she was punished by her and today she happened to come up with an idea that got her car totaled.

"No! No! You got it all wrong! I swear!"

She vigorously shook her head left and right, desperately trying to convince them that she was innocent.

I tried to ignore my Senpai's terrifying tone. I had never heard anything like it.

In the end, Misaki saw that it was getting late and decided to leave with me.

Leaving the poor girl alone at mercy of Senpai…

* * *

"A-Are you still mad about me running off?"

"…No."

Misaki paused for a few excruciatingly long moments before saying that and letting out a long, deep sigh.

Relief rushed through me. I looked up at her, my face filled with joy for the fact that my pleas had reached her. However, those angry starry eyes reappeared almost immediately.

"However, I cannot forgive you for not telling me. This is just like before with Index!"

"I-I'm so sorry! It was just…..I wanted to help and.."

"And what? I couldn't help? Why is it whenever it comes to 'her' you always run off and not tell me about it?"

"Huh?"

Misaki sighed, "Look, I'm proud that you saved those kids it's just…..I don't want to be left behind again ...The last time I was, you….."

Misaki's eyes seemed to trail down as she looked at the ground remembering what happened that day in the hospital.

—"I'm sorry, I have no idea who you are, are you okay? You look really sad."

Before she could regress any deeper into that painful memory she was dragged back out when she felt someone's warm embrace.

"I'm sorry…..I didn't know, I promise I'll do better in the future."

Misaki sniffled as she held onto him.

"You better…"

* * *

**Present…**

"Do you have any idea how much trouble you got me in because you couldn't keep your mouth shut!?"

"I-I couldn't lie to them!"

"And so you threw me under the bus!? Why didn't you just blame it on Yuki!?"

Touma began to shake his head into his hands, "Because that would be lying, and I can't lie to them. I'm so sorry."

Index then turned to the fuming #6, "What was your punishment Estu?"

Aihana slumped back down into her chair, eyes dead, "Turns out I'm a ward of the Gemstone Facility and because of that Kumokawa-Senpai froze my bank account."

"Ouch."

"Also, because I was the one who came up with the idea in the first place I had to pay for all the damages."

"Ouch"

"All the winnings I made from the bet were used for paying off the damages since she didn't let me take it out of my account. I had to pay for a new car for her along with the damages to the wall, oh and let's not forget about the fact that I still had to pay for getting my house repaired after 'she' blew a giant hole in the wall, along with replacing all my broken collectibles."

"Okay we get it, he screwed you over, so what do you want?" Accelerator asked.

She then turned back to Touma, "Go back and tell her it wasn't my idea!"

"I can't I'd be ly...Gwah!"

The time for pleasantries was over,

The #6 pounced over and grabbed Touma by the collar of his shirt and started shaking him.

"Do you even understand what you did!? I only have 900,000 ¥ left from the winnings! How the hell am I supposed to live off that!? My allowance is direct deposit! I still haven't even bought a new wardrobe yet because of everything that happened! Kumokawa-Senpai charged me for wearing her uniform and then took it back! I had to go out in my pajamas just to buy these clothes!"

"I'm so sorry! I only have 70,000¥ left in my account so I'm doing worse than you. I even had to shell out 36,000¥ to buy a new textbook today!"

"Tell her!"

"I can't!"

The #1 and Nun could only stare on as they watched her continue to shake him.

Though one thing did surprise the #1. And that was 'why was no one stopping her?'

To be honest they were making quite a big commotion and no one else in the entire restaurant seemed to bat an eye at them.

"There's only a few days left until the new Magical Powered Kanamin goes on sale! How the hell am I gonna afford that?"

"I-I don't know? Maybe just don't buy i-"

"Don't! You! Even! Dare! Say that!"

"L-Look I'll talk to 'Senpai' about it, okay. I'll try to see if there's anything I can do to help you out."

Aihana finally released Touma and sat back down in her chair.

"H-Honestly I'm just surprised that Senpai even owns a car."

"Apparently working as the Overseer pays well…..if how much it took to buy her a new one was anything to go by anyway."

The #1 simply shook his head at them.

Wanting to distract himself he looked around the fast-food restaurant for something else.

And over there...

On that table...

Was a shrine maiden.

The shrine maiden was sleeping with her face on the table.

(What the hell?)

The shrine maiden was surrounded by what looks to be wrappers of burgers around her.

However, unlike the glutton, he knew this girl did not have an endless abyss for an appetite.

Not wanting to get involved in whatever that was he simply continued his gaze elsewhere.

"Hey, Touma look at that!"

(God Dammit)

Both Aihana and Touma look over to the Shrine maiden in question.

Hesitation ran through both of their minds.

Kamijou's misfortune radar was warning him to stay away.

While Aihana's Shut-in characteristics made it, so she didn't want to talk to new people.

They both closed their eyes and made their decision.

(Don't get involved with her.)

Having made that conclusion, they both turned around and saw that the other members of their party were already at the table.

In unison, they had the same thought.

(God Dammit)

Index had already sat opposite that mysterious shrine maiden. That girl really lacked the awareness to danger. As for Yuki he had followed Index and sat down there as well.

They both really wanted to just run away.

But a little voice in their heads told them that leaving them now would only end with trouble more along the line.

Index, who had a gulp of strawberry shake in her mouth, was happily waving them over.

They both thought that they shouldn't wreck that expression.

Nonetheless, there was still a mysterious shrine maiden sleeping at the table.

When they both finally reached the table the shrine maiden jerked her shoulders.

They all waited for the shrine maiden to say something.

The shrine maiden spoke.

"—Spent all my money on food and ruined myself."

* * *

**Part 2**

They were all at a loss for words.

The shrine maiden was about as old as Kamijou and was wearing a typical shrine maiden outfit. The waist-length hair made her look like a textbook example of a shrine maiden.

"..."

Aihana turned to Kamijou with an expression that read 'What do we do?'

Though, since he had no real answer for this he shrugged.

At that moment, he noticed Index staring at him.

"...W-what is it?"

"When someone talks to you, you should oblige and reply. Touma, you can't just back away on just seeing the appearance. You must follow God's teachings and stretch out, amen!" Index preached.

Touma could hear the chorus in the background.

"...Wha, Bah! Are you joking!? Why don't you do it!? And stop making a cross over your heart with such a humble face!"

In the end, the group decided to play rock-paper-scissors to decide the martyr.

Rock, Rock, Rock, Scissors.

Kamijou lost.

In conclusion, Kamijou Touma really was misfortunate.

"Erm, hello?"

The shrine maiden's shoulders jerked.

"Ah, erm umm... what did you mean when you said spent all your money and ruined yourself?"

"I had a lot of coupons, and a hamburger cost 580 yen,"

"Uh-huh."

"So I went ahead and ordered thirty of them."

"So you're an idiot."

Accelerator retorted on reflex, he had noticed that the shrine maiden suddenly stopped moving. Because of her silence, one could tell that she gave off an aura of emotional hurt.

They all stared at him and he gave them an expression that read 'Yeah, so what?'

The atmosphere became super awkward.

"Ah, he didn't mean it like that, but why did you order so many?"

"Frustration meal."

The corpse-like shrine maiden that had stopped moving suddenly spoke such words.

"Ha?"

"Train fare back home costs four-hundred-yen."

"What does a four-hundred-yen train ride back have to do with a frustration meal?"

"My total fortune, three hundred yen."

"...And the reason is?"

"Overspending, lack of planning."

"..."

"You really are an idiot, aren't you?"

The shrine maiden's head slumped back on the table.

The nun and the #6 looked at him with cold eyes.

(Such Misfortune)

"So that's why I'm having a frustration meal."

He had to choose his next words carefully as to not be branded a cold-hearted monster in the eyes of the two girls before him.

After careful consideration, he said, "W-Why don't you use that three hundred yen for the train ride? If you only have three hundred yen, you can cut the distance until it's just a hundred yen less. If you can't do that, why don't you just borrow a hundred yen from someone?"

"—That idea's good."

"Why are you staring at me like that? Or rather, don't turn your expectant look to me!"

Kamijou frantically let his body back away from the shrine maiden as much as possible. He had already spent 3,600 yen just to buy a reference book which he lost and even bought 5 shakes just to calm Index down along with Aihana, so even though it was just a hundred yen, it was a heavy burden to him.

Speaking of which...

The shrine maiden who then lifted her face up was unexpectedly beautiful. She was a little different from the foreigner Index. She had skin that was as white as a Japanese person which was even more visible under the black eyes and hair. Though her eyes lacked emotion, it also meant that she was not aggressive.

Index scowled and glared at him as she watched him react to the reveal of her face.

"One hundred yen please."

The shrine maiden lifted her head and stared with a complicatedly pained expression.

"No."

"..." The shrine maiden pondered for a while and said, "...So stingy. Won't even lend a mere one hundred yen."

"...Who's the pretty idiot who doesn't even have a hundred yen!?"

The shrine maiden's eyes waved, causing one to wonder what she was thinking about.

"Lend me a hundred yen since I'm beautiful."

"Geh! Shut up, you terrible woman! A woman who sells her own looks to get money isn't a beauty at all! Besides I don't have any cash on me since I had to waste my money on these three here already!"

"...In other words, Touma. If you didn't get us these shake you would have handed her 100 yen and settle the issue. That's what you're saying, right? Hmph ...I wonder what Misaki would think? Commandment 7th Touma."

Kamijou grabbed his head, wondering where everything went so wrong!

At that point, Index, slurping the shake with a straw, was glaring at the shrine maiden with hostility.

"Hmph. Seeing that you're wearing red pants, I suppose you do divinations, right? So shrine maidens who do divinations also sell their faces, right? Not surprising, I heard that the term 'shrine maiden' was a hidden way of calling someone a 'whore' in the Heian period."

Aihana began backing up from this confrontation as her social skills didn't match the Level requirements to jump into this conversation.

Just as things were about to reach a boiling point, the shrine maiden spoke.

"I'm not a shrine maiden."

"What?"

"Eh, if you're not a shrine maiden, what are you?"

Kamijou, who became everyone's representative for some reason, asked that.

"I'm a magic-user."

Everyone sank into silence.

They all had their own interpretations of the word 'magic' with the group being evenly split down the middle with those who believed in it to those who didn't.

Index slammed onto the table with both hands.

Before the shakes on the tray could even jump up, Index roared.

"What kind of magic-user!? Kabbalah!? Enoch!? Don't just declare yourself something as vague as a magic-user and tell us your specialty, school, magic name and order name, you idiot!"

"?"

"You can't call yourself a magician without even knowing all of these in the first place! Since you're a divination shrine maiden, you should at least brag about being an oriental astrologer from the Onmyoudou!"

"Okay. Well then, I'll be that."

"Well then!? Did you say 'well then' just now!?"

Index slammed both her hands on the table for a second and third time.

Kamijou sighed while he looked around him.

Aihana had shrunk back down and was too afraid to even join the conversation while Yuki was just shaking his head.

Seeing the situation devolving into a screaming match Yuki stood up from the table.

They all stared at him for a moment wondering what he was going to do.

"Tch! Just take the money and get out already! You're causing the runt to be too damn noisy!"

He dropped a bill worth a thousand yen in front of the shrine maiden.

"Gah! Yuki you can't just pay this charlatan! She obviously isn't a real magician just look at her!"

Yuki didn't say a word as the shrine maiden took the bill and thanked him as she walked away.

With a face that matched her grumbling noises, Index vigorously turned to look the other way.

Things seemed fine but underneath the table, someone was repeatedly trampling Kamijou's foot thinking it was someone else's.

Things were not fine.

* * *

**Part 3**

It was a summer evening.

The group decided to try and forget everything that had just happened with the exception of one nun who turned her head in the general direction of the #1.

Aihana who still had much to do that day said her goodbyes as she went towards the shopping district in order to buy new clothes. Since she still lived in the Gemstone Facility, she had a strict curfew that if it was missed would result in her sleeping on the streets for the night.

Kamijou sighed.

He would have to get Aihana's situation sorted one way or another.

However, that would require him gathering the courage to face his Senpai again after he caused her so much trouble.

"What's the matter, Touma?"

Facing a question with such an innocent smile, he could only answer that it was nothing. He carefully maneuvered to avoid being found out and sighed.

"Ah!"

Walking halfway, Index suddenly stopped, seemingly seeing something.

"Eh?" Feeling depressed, Kamijou stared where Index's gaze was directed. At the base of a windmill turbine sat a corrugated paper box with a kitten purring inside.

"Touma! Ca—"

"No way!"

Kamijou interrupted Index before she could finish.

"...Touma, I haven't said anything yet!"

"We're not taking it"

"Why why why why! Why can't we raise Sphinx?"

"Because Saten's student dormitory doesn't allow pets! Besides, you can barely take care of yourself! I don't want to have to deal with trying to support you and a cat! And don't give it a name! And what, Sphinx?! Don't give that name to a Japanese calico cat!"

"**Touma you must understand the gifts God has given us, and learn to accept them.**" Index spoke in English

"?...Wah!? Don't speak English just to try to win this conversation! No means no!"

Index didn't take the news to kindly and started to throw a temper tantrum.

At the sound of their argument, the cat jumped out of the cardboard box and ran off into a distant alley.

"It's all Touma's fault!"

"Mine!?"

The two shouted at each other in the summer evening all the while Accelerator looking on awkwardly as he watched their arguments devolve into basically calling the others cultural cruel to animals.

This wasn't the worst day he had by far, in fact, he would go as far as to say he was having fun watching them.

Though he knew this wouldn't last.

There were only a few days left until the experiments started up again and most if not all of his time would be dedicated to that.

His experiments were morally ambiguous at best and he didn't want them involved in it.

He wondered how they would react to him saying that they'd probably not get to see him until the experiments finished.

The risks were too high for having them around. At one point one of the Wind-up dolls actually tried to snipe him from a distance. True the roads were empty at the time but if one of those two were there they could get caught up in the crossfire and unlike him, neither of them had defenses against bullets.

Shouting halfway, Index suddenly noticed something and moved away.

"...That's strange, Touma it seems that a flow of magic power is being gathered nearby."

Index stared at Kamijou and muttered.

Spinning around and showing a sharp glint in her eyes, Index began to run vigorously towards the back alley of the gap between the buildings on the side of the road.

"Index!"

"It looks like someone has set up a magic circle. I'll go investigate it, Touma!" As she spoke she ran off.

"Tch! What a spoiled runt."

Seeing as Yuki was in pursuit Kamijou relaxed a bit.

That's when Misfortune reared its head again and Kamijou sighed.

"It's been a while, Kamijou Touma."

* * *

**Part 4**

Hearing that all too familiar voice Kamijou couldn't help but sigh.

He turned to look behind him.

There he was standing in all his stuck upness.

He was over two meters tall and wore a black priest's robe and, like Index, was clearly a foreigner. His long hair was dyed red, his ears were pierced, every one of his fingers was decorated by rings and under his right eye was a barcode tattoo. In short, he looked as though he shopped in the **Harajuku street** [The hot topic on steroids of Japan] or whatever store Yuki went to so he could buy those edgy clothes.

"Hmph. Not even a greeting, even though we haven't met for a while? Hm, that's fine too. That's how our relationship should be. We can't just act like comrades after working together once."

Kamijou shook his head, "What?... Oh, Oh, yeah you were there that night too."

Kamijou felt uncomfortable, the last time he met Stiyl was the night he barely remembers at all. What happened the following day didn't make remembering him any more pleasant either.

He knew 'he' met him before, but were they really friends? The only real memory he has of him is where he was kicking his ribs until they cracked.

He glanced over at the alley they walked into.

"Ah, don't worry about that girl. I just used Opila runes over there, so she probably just detected the flow of magic power and went to take a look. Though I didn't know that the monster was up and about again."

Kamijou glared at the boy, "Well, talk about the pot calling the kettle black. Weren't you acting as the monster in Index's story a few days ago? Or did you just conveniently forget that part?"

The red-haired priest glared at him, "Do you want me to kill you?"

Without having the time to think, Kamijou raised his right hand.

***Shatter!***

Quickly raising his right hand before his own eyes, flames burst out of the priest's right hand producing a shining crimson flame sword.

The priest did not wait for even one second.

Without any hesitation at all, without a shred of mercy, the flame sword was vigorously swung down towards Kamijou's face.

"Ha... hah..."

Kamijou didn't lower the right hand that had protected his face as he continued with his heavy breathing.

"What the hell!?"

Seeing the stiff, trembling, and immobile Kamijou, the priest's glare finally let up.

"Don't bring up a past you know nothing about. This is the relationship that Kamijou Touma and Stiyl Magnus have. Don't make me repeat myself, our relationship isn't one based off of comradery, it's strictly business."

Stiyl pulled out an envelope.

"Ehwaz (Go)," Stiyl said and flicked the large fan-mail like envelope. The thick envelope spun like a Frisbee and slowly landed on Kamijou's hands.

"Gebo (Receive)." The moment Stiyl had muttered that the words on the envelope started to glow. The seal opened right down the middle as if it was sliced apart by a knife.

"Do you know of a university prep school by the name of Misawa Cram School?"

A vast number of documents flew out of the envelope one by one each seemingly having runes engraved on them and gently floated in front of Kamijou's eyes.

"Misawa? It's a pretty famous prep school, but that's as far as I know...So, why are you talking to me about Misawa Cram School? Is there a new discount offered when you introduce it to friends?"

"It's like this," Stiyl nonchalantly explained, "A girl was imprisoned there, and it's my duty to save her."

"What?"

Stiyl lifted his finger up. The envelope that was in Kamijou's hands let out printing paper that continued to fly around him like snowflakes.

It showed a sketch of the school along with other things but the piece of paper that stuck out to Kamijou the most was…

A report of a sighting a month ago, regarding a girl walking into the Misawa Cram School building.

According to the student dormitory manager, from then on the girl never returned to her room.

"As of now, it seems that Misawa Cram School has turned into a new religion that is centered on Science Worship," Stiyl said nonchalantly.

"Science?"

"I don't know what they're teaching. Honestly, I'm not even going to pretend to know. All I do know is that Misawa Cram School got taken over. The science-crazy, bogus religious group was consumed by a real, alchemist of the Zurich school, to be precise."

"An authentic one?"

"Yeah, I know it sounds suspicious coming from me but... wait a minute."

"What is it?"

"...Since when did you become so perceptive? Are you basically ignoring me because you don't understand at all?"

"Not really, I'm just going off what I already know. Like how it takes equivalent exchange and a basic understanding of science to perform certain alchemic tasks such as transmutation. However, you do have to take care when making a homunculus otherwise they can run rampant."

Stiyl was shocked.

He didn't know how he knew so much about alchemy. From his perspective, he was just one of the talented ones. Was he wrong? Was this boy actually a magician all along and he tricked them all into giving him access to Index and by extension the 103,000 grimoires in her head!?

Stiyl narrowed his eyes at the boy and asked.

"How do you know all of this?"

Kamijou seemed to chuckle, "I learned it from watching another alchemist in action."

Stiyl readied himself if what he said was true than they had a much bigger problem then what was going on in Misawa Cram School.

"Who? What is the name of this alchemist you speak of!?" Stiyl growled.

Kamijou let out another laugh as he spoke, "Edward Elric."

"I've never heard of the alchemist Edward Elric."

"Hmm. He goes by another name, he's actually pretty famous for it. He's called the FullMetal Alchemist."

"The FullMetal Alchemist?"

Kamijou nodded.

For some reason, that name sounded vaguely familiar for Stiyl however he couldn't quite place it.

Wait a minute…

"A-Are you talking about…"

"I'm talking about the manga. Yes"

"You bastard. If you ever pull something like that again I'll cremate you until not even your bones remain!"

Stiyl finally reverted back to the original conversation.

"The most important reason why the alchemist took over was Deep Blood who was captured by Misawa Cram School."

Deep Blood?

"The reason as to why he took it over is that ability. It's an ability that's purpose is to kill a 'certain living thing.' No, not only that. It offers the only chance of capturing that certain creature alive to prove its existence."

Kamijou still didn't understand.

"Well, if I have to use Christian terminology, this certain creature is known as Cain's descendants." Stiyl chuckled, and then he said in a whisper, "Basically, they're vampires."

He finally said it.

"Like the Vampire Diaries?" Misaki would frequent that show every so often.

And since she did by extension so did he. It was hard for him to actually watch the show not because of the plot but because of the language. It was an American show that was in English and he would constantly have to read the subtitles to keep up, unlike Misaki who already knew the language.

However, he did learn a few things from watching.

Vampires hate the sun.

Hate Vervain.

And if you drink their blood and died you became a vampire.

"...Those who can think of it as a joke are considered lucky." Stiyl gnashed his teeth and looked away.

"Since Deep Blood exists in order to kill vampires, the talk can't continue if there are no 'vampires to be killed."

"Okay, so Damon is having a comeback. What does that have to do with this?"

"Nobody has ever seen a vampire," Stiyl Magnus looked like the embodiment of self- confidence as he said in a chant-like tone, "Because everyone who saw one died."

"Edgy."

"Is everything a joke to you?"

Touma shrugged.

"Tell me this Kamijou Touma, have you heard of the Tree of Sephirot? ...I suppose you haven't, right?" Stiyl sneered cynically.

"Have you heard of manners….I suppose you haven't, right?"

"Whatever. Anyways, the Tree of Sephirot depicts the 'soul level' of God, angels, and humans on a class status diagram. To put it simply, humans can climb up the ranks by training, but at some point, they won't be able to climb up any higher."

"Like a level cap?"

"...I really don't like you. What I'm trying to say is... there are some 'levels' that humans can't reach no matter how much they try. However, humans want to continue their ascent, no matter what. Magicians became magicians because they wanted to surpass a human's limits. If so, what must humans do to surpass this limit?"

"Get a class up?"

"If you say one more word I'm going to incinerate you! They borrow the power of anything other than humans!"

Kamijou couldn't say anything.

"The so-called vampires are immortal. Even if you stab their gouged-out hearts with a magic-sword they can continue to live. When all's said and done, I wonder if a living magic tool can still feel things?"

"..."

"Nothing?"

"..."

"..."

"You told me I couldn't talk."

Stiyl's eyes flared up, "You think everything a joke don't you? Do you know about Deep Blood's past? It's rumored that the girl originally used to live in a mountain village in Kyoto. But, one day, the village was annihilated. When the rescue arrived, all they found was an empty village and a single girl standing completely still and fiercely blowing white ash covered the village."

Ash.

It was said that vampires would turn into ashes after they died.

Kamijou stopped and stared despondently at the ground at that revelation.

"Deep Blood is the 'power to kill vampires'. If that's the case, Deep Blood must first encounter vampires in order to work. As for those who wish to encounter vampires by all possible means, the best way is to restrain Deep Blood But then, the big question is how to control the possessor of the 'absolute power to kill vampires."

"Alright, I get it. This isn't a joke. Why did you want to talk to me?"

"Ah, that's right. We don't have much time, so let's end this quick. Basically, I have to charge into Misawa Cram School and save Deep Blood."

Kamijou simply nodded in response.

"Don't nod away like that. You're coming with me."

"Huh!? Bastard, what did you just say!?"

"That was an accurate description of the situation. Also, the conversation just now was the briefing."

"Also, one more thing," Stiyl casually replied, "You don't have any right to refuse. If you don't obey, we'll take away Index from you."

Kamijou stood still as those words echoed in his head.

"Take her away?"

"Necessarius has given you the role of being "shackles" for the purpose of preventing Index, whose "collar" has been removed, from betraying the organization. We also graciously allowed that esper a role as her protector. " Stiyl sighed. "But if you refuse, we would have no choice but to take her away from the two of you."

That was a threat.

If he didn't obey, they would take Index away and start erasing her memories once again.

"You….."

He was trembling. His heart was beating away like a wooden stake being hammered in. He sacrificed everything in order to save her and now he would be extorted just so he could continue to do so until the next time they needed something.

It was like getting involved with the mafia. Once they did you one favor you were theirs. And in his case they allowed him to safeguard Index just so they could use him. So now...

He was shackled...

"...Bastard. Are you serious?"

He remembered the look on Index's face when she cried learning that she would forget all of them. He remembered the promise they made to her.

Even if he had to live with his own shackles, it was alright! He promised that he would save her.

In order to not make her cry again.

"...Hmph." Stiyl nonchalantly looked away.

"Oh, I forgot to mention it, Deep Blood's real name is Himegami Aisa. There's a photo here, and it's best that you take a look. It'll be bad if you can't even remember the face of the person you're going to save."

A photo slipped out of the envelope.

There he found the face of the shrine maiden he had met during the day.

"What?"

She was the girl who he met just a few hours ago…

Had she escaped?

No, she wanted to go back.

Was it Stockholm syndrome?

Whatever the reason Kamijou made it his mission to see this through.

* * *

**Part 5**

**Saten's Dorm**

After chasing Index down the alley only for her to lead him to some piece of paper that immediately caught Accelerator decided to take her home himself since Kamijou was no longer where he left him.

"You live here?"

Index nodded as she ran to her bed.

"Ruiko sleeps there and I sleep here."

Accelerator eyed all the Magical Powered Kanamin merchandise around her side of the room. From his perspective, it would seem she has a hoarding problem as much of the under space of her bed was filled with random pieces of spilling out.

Wandering his gaze he saw as she put the Music box he bought for her on her bedside counter.

"I'm hungry."

He rolled his eyes at that. It was like her catchphrase or something.

"You have a fridge, don't you? Go get something and microwave it."

"Eh? Ah, uu... I don't seem to be really capable of using a microwave."

"What?"

"Mikoto and Ruiko said I shouldn't use it when they're not home so we don't have any more incidents."

True to her words the girls all witnessed Index use the microwave. Even after they walked her through step by step the process of how to use it, the end result would be whatever she put inside exploded. In the end, it seemed to her that no matter how she used the microwave, it would explode. In truth, Index thought that using a microwave was a sure-fire way for an explosion.

Accelerator saw Index giving the look that she wouldn't fail again.

Then, he realized it.

"Hey! What's hidden inside your clothes? More accurately, near the stomach!"

"Eh?"

Index froze.

"No, nothing at all!? I swear upon our Father in Heaven that sisters don't tell lies!"

Meow….

"Was that all your piety was worth? Didn't you just break the oath you made with all of your heart!? Hurry up and get that stray cat hidden in your clothes out!"

Index frantically took cover behind her bed.

In the brief time, she ran off away from his gaze when she went into the alley, she found that stray cat.

"Y-Yuki, this piece of clothing is called the Walking Church."

"So what?"

"**A church should open its arms without any conditions to any lost sheep! Therefore, I will protect Sphinx, who was lost on the streets, Amen.**" Index spoke in English

"**...Fuck that. You can barely take care of yourself! And stop it with the half-assed preaching.**" Accelerator retorted in English.

Though his curriculum mainly took priority in science Accelerator still studied over subjects to diversify his knowledge, some of which were English and Biology.

For a brief moment Index actually looked surprised that Accelerator knew English.

"I'm still keeping Sphinx!"

"This isn't even your dorm, you're just squatting here."

Before she could properly react Sphinx had jumped out of her clothes and landed on the ground.

Time slowed down for Index as she watched Yuki lightly tap his foot on the ground only to have the effect have Sphinx launch directly into his grasp.

With the cat in hand, Accelerator walked for the entrance of the room.

"Yuki wait please! I wanna keep Sphinx please!" Index begged.

She had a pleading look in her eyes as she cupped her hands together.

He knew that letting her keep the cat would only lead to more problems down the road. She could barely function a microwave and had an appetite that if went unfilled would lead her to use her pet as rations. He learned that much from her when he saw her try to eat goldfish.

Not to mention that this wasn't even her dorm!

"...Fine."

"Hm? Yuki? What did you say?"

"Keep it."

Index smiled to the heavens, or the roof, and started crying tears of joy.

"**Ahh! Father in Heaven! Your warm light of love has finally reached the depths of Yuki's soul! Thank you for saving this stray cat's innocent soul; I'll never forget this act of kindness.**"

The sight was so ridiculous that Accelerator smiled, just a little bit.

The only real problem he had to deal with was getting the roommate to agree and…

"Index are you home?"

There she was.

* * *

Saten Ruiko was what you'd call an outgoing person. She liked to hang out with her friends and even liked to research Urban Legends in her spare time.

She had built up quite the fortitude form fear in her time scouring the web for scary stories, so she was quite proud to say that she didn't scare easily.

Well, that all changed when she walked into her dorm to find a strange white-haired boy in her dorm.

She was not too bashful to admit it.

The moment she saw the boy panic ran through her mind and she dropped all the groceries that she had bought with Index's Money Card.

However when the groceries fell she heard a ***Ding*** sound and the bag went flying into the air and on her counter.

The first thought that ran through her mind was…

'I'm screwed'

However, before terror could fully take hold of her she was sapped out of it by Index and her new cat?

Apparently, she had found this stray Kitten and planned on raising it herself.

Saten didn't really mind, Index was actually richer than her so money wouldn't really be an issue nor was it ever one since Mikoto was also pitching in to help her.

In fact, Saten was actually kinda jealous over Index. Not because of the money, she wouldn't be so shallow, but having someone like Kamijou and Misaka look after her.

That's not to say that Mikoto wasn't Saten's friend, it was more than the bond they all had with each other was somehow stronger than theirs.

"S-So, Yuki-san how's your day been going?"

Even though Saten was more relaxed she still kept the formal honorific since she knew that Yuki was the guy who dealt with Theristina himself and….she saw the aftermath.

It wasn't pretty.

Accelerator rolled his eyes, "How do you think it's been going?"

Sweat started to drip from her forehead.

His eyes seemed to wander around the room watching Index as she took care of the cat and played with it along with her toys.

It was actually amusing, watching Yuki's expression. Like a worried but proud mother watching her child taking their first steps while worrying over whether or not they would fall and hurt themselves.

Saten smiled as she looked over at Index.

"Hey, Index it's almost time for dinner get ...Sphinx?" In the back of her mind, she thought that was a weird name for a Japanese Calico cat, "And get ready to give him a bath."

Index nodded as she picked up Sphinx and headed off to the room's Bathroom.

"Do you wanna join us for dinner?"

The boy simply looked at his phone and shook head.

He said that he had something else to do that day and got up to leave.

"Oi, Saten was your name, right?"

"Yeah?"

"Why the hell are you so on edge?"

"W-Well it's just ...You know, you were the guy that dealt with Theristina...Not that it was a bad thing or anything but….you know."

The boy rolled his eyes, "She had it coming," The boy then waved her off as he began to walk out of the dorm. "Besides I wouldn't kill the runt's babysitter."

Saten sighed in relief,

Right as he was about to exit through the door he spoke once more.

"Unless they deserved it."

And like that he left the room.

That was a threat.

Saten didn't know whether to be afraid or be jealous of how many people Index had to protect her, but no matter what she felt,

She made extra food for Index…

Just in case.

* * *

**Part 6**

After exiting the dormitory room, Accelerator saw that same guy from before, who he had fought and was the reason why he was in the hospital in the first place, scattering card-like things all over the place.

"What are you doing?"

The red-haired priest seemed to jump back in fear after seeing the boy.

Before he could utter a word the boy made a motion and high pressurized air shot towards the Magician pinning him against the wall.

Collars made up of pure air locked both his arms, neck, waist, and legs in place.

Unable to move or speak the magician known as Stiyl had lost.

A dark aura seemed to form around Accelerator as he approached the magician.

"Well look who we have here. Guess you didn't get the memo the last time I crushed you, huh?"

The Magician struggled to speak as the collar began getting tighter and tighter around his neck.

"Ho? No fire this time? What's that? Are you trying to beg for mercy from the almighty Accelerator?"

Placing his hand on the Magician's face, Accelerator released a dark grin.

"Well, that's too bad. I guess I can test out what messing with someone's bioelectricity does to them since you oh so graciously offered."

"Wait!"

Turning his head he saw the same spiky-haired idiot.

"Hah...hah...Stop it's not what it looks like!"

Accelerator cocked an eyebrow.

"Explain."

* * *

After giving Yuki a brief abridged version of events, he eventually let Stiyl go. But not before throwing him off the two-story dorm building and into a pile of garbage below after hearing the threat he made to Index.

Touma didn't even know that there were that many curse words in the Japanese language, but after he heard Stiyl go off he knew his life was tamer than he gave it credit for.

"So you're hunting vampires?"

"Yep."

"...Are you fucking high?"

Kamijou sighed as he knew that no matter what he said the person before him, he would never believe it until he witnessed it firsthand.

"W-We're fighting some weird cultists who think that vampires are real."

Accelerator seemed to accept that answer more than the previous one.

The two watched Stiyl as he put up a protective barrier around Saten's Dorm to keep Index safe. He was muttering to himself as he put the runes on.

"How troublesome. I have to set up a boundary to keep off magicians, but I can't make it too strong or else that girl will notice it."

Despite muttering a complaint, Stiyl looked very happy somehow.

Thus, Kamijou somewhat realized something.

"Do you like Index?"

"Buh!?" Stiyl blushed as if his heart had stopped. "W-W-what are you suggesting all of a sudden!? Sh-She's a target of protection and in n-no way an object of romantic interest!"

Accelerator seemed to step closer to the door housing Index hearing that comment.

"That's honestly kind of creepy considering the age gap between you two."

"It's not like that! First, she's just someone I look out for, that's all. She's my friend, of course, I care about her. Not… like that," Stiyl explained, earning a glare from Accelerator, "Second, I'll have you know the age gap between us is not that big. I happen to be fourteen years old."

In unison, both boys spoke.

"BULLSHIT!"

Kamijou clutched his head, "I've been lied to! They told me that smoking stunts growth! Bull! I always bought it because I would see Komoe-Sensei smoke!"

"How the hell is that even fucking possible? I know foreigners are supposed to be taller but this is too much."

"I use magic to make myself look older," Stiyl huffed, "People don't necessarily think you're much of a threat when you look like a little kid."

Brushing the comment about magic aside Accelerator clutched his head annoyed.

"I beat the hell out of a 14-year-old kid? Talk about false label claims,"

* * *

After talking Accelerator decided that he would stay with Index in case any cultists try to come to take her away while Kamijou and Stiyl proceeded to head towards the Cram school.

* * *

"No Index you can't have another pudding cup. That's like your fifth one!"

Suddenly the door swung open.

"Oi."

Saten jumped off her chair.

"Here take it all! I'm so sorry!"

Index's eyes glittered. "Thank you!"

* * *

**Misawa Cram School**

"So why can't we ask for Mikoto to come along?"

Stiyl rubbed his throat as he continued towards their destination.

"An esper cannot defeat a magician of Aureolus Izzard level without causing massive problems to the delicate balance. Just remember the lengths Kanzaki had to go to just to keep her defeat from that monster from before a secret. She had to publicly lower herself and say you one of the talented ones defeated her and as a result, she had lost much respect that her name once held. I don't want to even get into what happened with the Amakusa church when they found out."

His voice seemed to trail off.

"I didn't want to cause either of you so much trouble. I just wanted to protect Index."

Stiyl rolled his eyes at his comment.

He went into explaining just who this Aureolus Izzard was.

Apparently, he came from a famous family, but Stiyl also mentioned that the reason Aureolus Izzard had become an alchemist was that he wasn't talented enough for the other roles.

However, Stiyl did give Kamijou this one piece of information to chew on just before they reached the Cram School.

"Alchemists have the ultimate goal." Stiyl paused. "To be able to simulate the entire world in one's head."

"..."

Stiyl paused once more, "The goal is to bring out their thoughts into the real world"

Kamijou was shocked. If that really was true then there was no end to what they could do. With the power to have your thoughts manifest into reality, you could imagine a car and have it appear right before your eyes.

Hell, why stop there? You could even imagine a billion Yen and it would appear in front of you. It was like one of those cheats that video games had.

"Don't think about it too hard. Alchemists have been trying to accomplish this for over a hundred years and still, there is no recorded case of success. It's true that this alchemy is still rather threatening, but right now, Aureolus Izzard shouldn't be able to do this. The most he can do is to create a few things and turn this Misawa Cram School into a fortress, so we should be fine."

"Do you know this guy?"

"Of course we do. We were from church organizations after all," Stiyl casually said. "I belong to the Anglican Church, and he belonged to the Roman Catholic Church. We did meet each other before even though our sects were different. Of course, we aren't friends."

"Yeah, I guess having a friend that kidnaps girls in hopes of meeting a vampire is a deal-breaker."

"Obviously, besides he may be knowledgeable about alchemy, but he can't fight. It's like a quiet social club member that's not in a sports club. If we get to him he shouldn't cause us any problems. The only real threat we have to deal with is the Roman Catholic church."

"Are they that dangerous?"

"Of course they are, and what makes it worse is that they don't seem to shy away from taking collateral damage in order to punish a heretic."

"What!? So are you telling me that even though we both want the same thing they won't hesitate to kill us!?"

Stiyl nodded, "And they wouldn't lose any sleep from it either. The Roman Catholic Sec is the largest Sect and their leaders are The Right Seat of God and the Pope. I personally don't know which of them named him a heretic but in the end, it doesn't matter as they won't stop until the one they branded as a heretic is dead."

Kamijou shuddered at the thought of being branded a heretic. Having fanatic come after you was not something he was looking forward to.

"We arrived at our battlefield."

Kamijou and Stiyl stopped walking.

Under the seemingly flaming sunset, the building awaited them.

Misawa Cram School.

* * *

**Omake**

**A Phone call away.**

Touma left Stiyl alone to put runes around Saten's dorm while he went to make a few calls.

He walked a few blocks away from the dorm before he made his first call.

"Hey, Mikoto."

"Hmm? What happened? You usually don't call unless something bad happens?"

"Well that's the thing, you see Stiyl came back and-"

"Wait, he's back! What the hell does he want!? Where is he? I'm gonna-"

"D-Don't worry it's nothing like that. H-He just needs help saving a girl who's being held captive,"

"...He asked you to help him rescue some girl? Why am I surprised? Where's this hostage? I'll be there in a-"

"T-That's the other thing I wanted to talk to you about. He said that you couldn't come."

"...What?"

Touma shivered at that long pause,

"S-Something about keeping the two sides separate and he said you couldn't come."

"...I'm gonna ask you one more time. Where is this girl being held."

"I-I said," Touma began, his stomach dropping, "Y-You c-can't come."

"..."

That icy silence was more than enough to make Kamijou shudder immediately and involuntarily.

He knew from experience girls were at their scariest when they said nothing but let their rage loom over them slowly but surely growing until they…

"TELL ME WHERE THE HELL SHE IS RIGHT NOW YOU IDIOT!"

Pop.

Touma quickly hung up his phone.

He shook where he stood, it took all of his courage to pick up his phone and dial again.

For he had one more call to make.

"Hey, Misaki."

"What is it, my Prince?"

"Y-You know how you said to keep you in the loop whenever something big happens?"

"Yes…...what is it?"

"Well, it's nothing too major really...no it's like a little thing really.."

"You're dodging the question, Touma. What is it?"

"Well ...I'm gonna go fight an alchemist who kidnapped a girl because he wants to find a vampire."

"What?"

"L-Long story short, I'm going to save someone, and since you wanted me to fill you in whenever I could, I thought I should tell you."

There was a short pause before she spoke again

"I'm glad you told me,"

"Hmm? Y-You're not mad?"

"Why would I be? You kept me in the loop as you promised me. My combat ability might not be high enough to be of any real help here nor do I have enough knowledge of ... 'that' to be of help but I'm getting there. Please don't tell me you're going in alone."

"D-Don't worry, I promise you I'm not going in alone."

"Whew...We'll if you need any help don't be afraid to give a call I'll help in any way I can, my Prince."

"T-Thanks I'll call you later."

Suddenly something ran through Misaki's mind.

"Who are you bringing with you?"

"..."

"Touma?"

The call ended.

Kamijou Touma didn't hear that last part.

He 'definitely' didn't hear that last part.

Quickly reaching into his pocket he put on the signal-blocking phone case that Stiyl gave him and turned off his phone just to be sure.

As he was walking back he couldn't help but get the feeling that someone was on his tail, so he decided to run all the way back to the dorm.


	30. Chapter 30 To Hell and Back

**Hey, thanks for reading a Certain Scientific Counter. Thank you for everyone who left a review and I'd like to thank my Beta-Reader Graeskog for helping me edit this chapter. Quick disclaimer this chapter is not gonna be as light-hearted as the others and you'll soon see why. But forget that, it's only a few more days until I have to go back to school. T****hank you for sticking by me and without further ado Q&A,**

**D N Works- Yeah he is. And yeah, from her impression he took on someone who gave Misaka a hard time with ease. And below is what happens when a construct meets his left hand.**

**Aminadab Brulle- Omakes do happen in the story unless I write that they don't. I just write them in at the end because they would disrupt the flow of the story. And yeah something bigs happening when we get to that storyline. Glad you like the comedy I. And yeah Accel would be able to take out Stiyl relatively quickly. Find out now by reading below. And yeah I read that chapter in Astral buddy and was like come on! But to be honest she is a true ojou-sama so...yeah. Accel manga is okay but the Railgun is the best only second to Astral buddy in my book. I still don't know where to rank Dark Matter since it only had one chapter but if it keeps up like it has been doing in the first chapter then it would be one of the best. And Misaka Worst's pet.**

**tsun- Yeah there will be repercussions. And yeah in cannon she would involve herself right away so that's why I'm writing it carefully. Because the enemy isn't only out of her league but if she was there she probably wouldn't be able to handle seeing some of the stuff going on in there. And yeah he is like a nerfed Magic God. And the reason why he doesn't say its a magician is because then she would ask do you know them? He would respond and tell her that it was the same guy who kicked his ribs hard enough for them to crack and almost kill him. And if that happened well... Best not to think about that now. And she knows about magic. She had a talk about it with Index, though she's not 100% that it is truly real but since she never actually saw it so she's taking Touma and Index at their word. Thank you for the comment.**

**Fortitude501- Yeah, she didn't know it was her car, she just saw that it was shiny. And she didn't know Accel would rip the door off to leave the car either. And FullMetal Alchemist for the win. And mature Misaki for the win. And they didn't call Anti Skill because Confused Sirens would be heard in the background since they wouldn't know how to respond. And I know what you mean.**

**BlueJack22- Yes it can. Thank you for the comment.**

**nameless- Yeah. And we will be getting more Misaki. And yea he did pay for them but they didn't call him stingy they called him cold-hearted since he insulted her when she was down. And Touma trolling for the win. Nd he has grown attached to them since they are the only people he regularly interacts with that don't want anything from him. Accel Mom. And Confused Sirens would be heard in the distance. And he called them so they couldn't say he didn't and her Status doesn't really amount to much once we get into this arc. And Touma learning English from his Sexy English Teacher/Girlfriend, a recipe for good roleplaying. And Mugino will come, she was hinted at in a previous chapter so she will come. And yeah they will have a worse relationship than in cannon. And the nickname was an inside joke, Aihana just said it because she actually destroyed her house and acted as though she didn't do anything wrong. And I like your ideas! And about what you think about COunter, it's close but once you read in between the lines something becomes really apparent with it. Thank you for your review!**

**awardedall- Think about it like this. He is always currently around someone who could kill him if the thought arose, so he would be a lot more hesitant when he's making people angry.**

**Chris- Yeah I was writing it the same time you published it and it was like, smart minds think alike. And yeah he sold out Gravity Girl...guess her defenses really do block everything. And yeah Deep Blood finally makes her appearance and would never be the student treasurer. And yeah she is really pretty, I guess the reasons she's not popular is because she slowly lost her relevance since there were no more vampires around. And Index has found competition, I wonder what kind of foreshadowing this means. And Sphinx is finally here! But can the person who can't even use a microwave really take care of him? Have fun Saten. Especially since she has to deal with 3 overprotective guardians around her. But taking care of Index does come with benefits. For one ever since she started rooming with her she never had to worry about food money and could even go shopping in those expensive grocery stores since it would all be covered by her card. And Stiyl is back! And was immediately smacked down by Accell again...The man does have a problem reading patterns. And Yuki being evil is just how he shows he cares, and how he makes people piss their pants. And fun fact. Every time Yuki hears magic he automatically assumes that it has something to do with Gemstones since all their powers are esoteric in nature it wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility. And after this arc, he's gonna have a lot more to worry about than that. I get what you mean and Thank You for the Review!**

**Anti-Mage 29- I meant it as he won the chance to talk with her. But yeah I guess your right so I change it. I'm glad you liked the reference and glad you like the chapter.**

**Sergio644- It probably would be but then it wouldn't be nearly as interesting. It's a Certain Magical Index, not A Certain Ordinary Kamijou, though that might be a good spin-off. And Kuroko abusing her position, you have to keep in mind she's either 12 or 13 and Konorii is only 16. Judgment is basically a safety Patrol but with high tech gear and authority, they even have the shashes. Putting any kid in that position of power would obviously have them abuse the hell out of their powers. And if you think about it Anti Skill is just teachers with some basic training. A middle school girl abusing her powers is the least of Academy City's problems here.**

**Justsomeguy- Your right. He won the chance to go talk to her. But alas no one got the joke so I changed it.**

**To Hell and Back**

**Part 1**

"I gotta say. Every time I look at this building it gets weirder."

Kamijou looked up at the building and muttered.

True to his words, the building was a bit bizarre.

The building itself was rectangular and nothing special. However, there were four such twelve-story-tall buildings, each taking a corner of a cross junction and forming a square. Also, the linked pathways were actually overhead like an overhead bridge above a road as they linked the buildings.

Stiyl simply nodded, "I don't know who plans your architecture in Academy City, but they do have strange tastes. Anyway, our target is the fifth level of the South Building beside the restaurant. There seems to be a secret room over there," Stiyl said casually.

"Secret room?"

"Yeah. It should be some trick that uses some illusion or distortion to make people unaware of this secret room's existence.

"Are there any booby traps?"

Stiyl stared at the building for a few moments before speaking, "I don't know,"

Kamijou sighed. Was it really safe to enter a building that couldn't be told was either safe or not?

"Should we go in?"

"Of course we shouldn't, but we can only go in, right? Our aim is to rescue Deep Blood not launch a full-scale assault."

"Hold on... What do you mean we can only go in? A-Are you actually saying that we're just gonna walk in the main entrance? No plan or anything."

"Did you have something in mind?"

Kamijou scratched the back of his head, "I-I don't know maybe? I thought we were going all 007 on this you know. Scale the building from the side kinda thing. Just walking in feels kinda…..like a letdown."

The red-haired priest rolled his eyes, "Your free to go and attempt that if you wish, but I neither brought the equipment or the funds in order to undergo such an endeavor. So while, in all honesty, it would be amusing watching you try to scale the building only to inevitably fall to your death. We don't have the time. Besides stealth isn't really an option with you around."

"Why's that?"

"Think of the building like a red painting and your Imagine Breaker as an eraser. Now, what happens when you bring those two together?"

"It erases something."

"Correct, now imagine you making your way inside the building. It would be like someone dragging an eraser through the painting. They would see it and obviously know something is amiss."

"So what we're just charging in there!?"

"Ahahah, no need to be so nervous. It's just alchemist's magic. Your left hand managed to absorb an attack from St. George's Dragon, so it should be able to handle something like this. If anything, you could always cower behind that Imagine Breaker of yours."

"Don't try to make fun of me just to steer the conversation away from your poor planning skills!"

Walking towards the main entrance Stiyl turned around to face Kamijou.

"Well then, what are you going to do? Are you just going to stand there and watch or are you going to go in?"

Kamijou stared at the automatic doors for a bit before steeling in his resolve.

"Alright let's go."

Without saying anything, Kamijou walked towards the automatic doors. And into the stronghold of the Alchemist.

After entering through the glass doors, the scene inside was extremely normal.

There was a lobby made entirely of glass that brought in a large amount of sunlight. The lobby was considerably large, being three stories high. This was what the prep school called the exterior used to attract more visitors.

"Huh….."

"What? Did you expect anything else?"

Kamijou nodded,

Looking around, he couldn't find anything wrong. The people who were walking around seemed to be normal too and not crazy cultists

"Eh?"

Then he noticed it…

There seemed to be some human-shaped robot lying there, or rather, placed there. The limbs were severely twisted, and it looked like a pile of scrap metal that made one think that it got into some serious traffic accident.

The rusty smell in the air caused Kamijou to frown.

Stiyl seemed to notice the 'robot' as well, "What? Are you interested in that thing? Oh well, that's true. It may be considered rare to you."

"Hold on, robots should be something from our Science side, right? Isn't it rare for you?"

On hearing Kamijou's words, Stiyl immediately frowned.

"What are you talking about? That's just a corpse."

"What…."

Kamijou was speechless.

Now that he had a closer look at it he could see a small puddle of blood around it.

From the looks of it, the person inside seemed to be...

"Damn it! Why the hell is no one here doing anything!" Kamijou turned to a nearby student. "Hey call an ambulance already!"

However, the student didn't react to Kamijou's pleas.

"It's no use. There are two sides, heads, and tails, like a coin," Stiyl explained, "We are in the same place as them, but there's a barrier between us. The students are on the heads side. They can't see people on the tails side like us. And while we can see them, we can't interfere with them in any way."

"...Damn it, so what should we do? We got a casualty here and we can't call a doctor or send him out..."

"We don't have to do anything. That person's dead."

"Don't say stupid things! Check his pulse! He could still be alive!"

"Perhaps, but from the looks of it, it seems as though his ribs pierced his lungs and his liver is crushed. So his name might as well be 'corpse.'"

"...!"

"What's with that expression? You knew that right from the start, right? Even if he's breathing, he can't be saved."

Immediately, Kamijou pulled Stiyl's chest up with both hands.

"Why the hell are you acting so fucking casual about this! Someone is dying and-"

Stiyl pushed Kamijou aside.

"We don't have much time. I'll let you cast, what you think is pity on the dead. It's a priest's job to send the dead to heaven. You, amateur, shut up and watch."

Kamijou watched as Stiyl went over to the knight and spoke something to him with the man responding.

He didn't know what they were saying but in the end, the tension from the man seemed to dissipate. It was like he said what he wanted to say. Then...

The knight's right hand dropped.

The sound of it echoed in the lobby for only them to hear.

Stiyl Magnus finally drew a cross in front of his chest.

And then, Kamijou finally realized something.

This was a real battlefield.

This wasn't a joke anymore.

He didn't want to die, he had people waiting for him when he got out, but at the same time, he couldn't let more people go out like...this.

"Let's go!"

Stiyl Magnus spoke once more like a soldier rather than a priest.

"Seems like we have one more reason to fight."

* * *

**Part 2**

Misaka Mikoto was the 3rd ranked Level 5 in all of Academy City and because of that, her strength was often compared to that of a battleship cruiser.

So in terms of combat, she was one of the best people to have around in a fight.

So when the boy named Kamijou refused her help she was more than thoroughly annoyed.

She tried to contact Uiharu to help her track his phone, but she didn't pick up.

Now running across the city aimlessly her next viable option was to hack into the surveillance system to see if she could track him down like that.

However in her rush to get to the nearest security Terminal she managed to bump into someone causing them to drop all of the shopping bags that they were carrying.

"Sorry about that, I didn't see you there."

Upon closer inspection, she saw who she bumped into.

She had long gorgeous indigo hair which was tied and covered up by a light blue newsboy hat that had a Magical Powered Kanamin pin embedded on the side and she wore a loose smock-like light pink shirt with blue pants.

"Oww...You're lucky I saw you before you bumped into me or that would've turned ugly."

"I said I was sorry. Do you need help picking those up?"

The girl nodded now getting a better look of her face Mikoto saw that her eyes were tinted with a violet gradient. She had a face that wouldn't look out of place as an idol.

"Sorry about that I was in a hurry. My name's Mikoto Misaka."

The girl let out a confused look.

"Since when did you get so obnoxious? It's me."

Mikoto scratched her head still staring at the girl's face.

However, one thing stuck out apparent to Mikoto.

Her hair.

"Aihana!?"

The girl let out a hurt look, "Do I really look all that different?"

"Yes," That was her immediate response.

The poor girl let out an aura of emotional hurt as she clutched her chest.

"The last time I met you was only out of the corner of my eye. But still, you look a lot different than the first time I met you."

"I was in my pajamas!"

"It was noon."

The #6 looked at the ground with a defeated look and sighed, "What do you want? I already said I was sorry."

"What? What makes you assume I want anything? I just bumped into you by chance."

"Pfft." Aihana spoke under her breath, "As if, bully."

"What did you just say?"

Aihana began backing up with her hands in front of her surrendering, "I-I'm sorry."

Mikoto sighed

From an outside perspective, it did seem as though she was harassing the girl.

"Look I'm not trying to pick a fight, okay. I'm just trying to find that 'idiot'"

"?"

"Oh yeah, I mean Touma."

Aihana immediately started to back up and blush, "I-I didn't the two of you were on a first-name basis. A-And I thought that S-Shokuhou and ...I gotta go!"

_(Wait what is she…..)_

"No!No! No! No! I-It's not like that, it's just-"

Before she had a chance to properly explain herself the #6 had already taken her bags and started rushing in the other direction.

"It's not like that I swear!"

The #3 grasped her head in frustration. This was going to be something she would have to deal with at a later date.

Just as Mikoto felt tension squeeze at her heart, she heard a series of blasts and the windows surrounding her shattered into a cascade of glass shards.

The boom of bursting gunpowder and the shriek of shattering glass pounded on her ears.

Turning her head, she was able to see a motorcycle that was ridden by a pair of people in black riding suits and full-face helmets.

The one on the back seat was aiming some kind of a long tube her way.

She could still hear the sound of glass shards hitting the floor.

***Biri Biri* *Bang!***

A shotgun had been fired more than once. If Mikoto had not used magnetism to gather surrounding debris, who knows how many people would have died.

Misaka Mikoto was one of Academy City's seven Level 5s and the strongest of the Electromasters. If she had abandoned all else and focused on hijacking the engine of the motorcycle, she might have been able to stop the motorcycle before it could escape.

"Ugh, really?"

The atmosphere on the street completely changed.

The screams and cries of the other pedestrians filled the street as they ran in every which way.

The noise was so brutal it brought to mind the idea of an acoustic weapon.

(Based on what I felt hitting the shield, the shotgun blasts were indiscriminate)

"Oh my god, what happened!?"

Mikoto spun around and saw the #6 rushing back still struggling to hold onto her many bags.

She clicked her tongue as she responded, "Someone just took potshots in the street. You heard the shots too right?"

Aihana shook her head, "My shield automatically blocks anything over 85-dB. I only saw everybody running away."

"Oh yeah."

Mikoto remembered that her seeming indestructible shield could block soundwave from reaching her. And since almost all firearms create noise that is well over the 140-dB, she would've been blocked from all the sounds.

Suddenly an idea hit her.

"The last time we fought you managed to spot Nayuta in the brush, how'd you do it?"

"Huh? I can sense whatever is in my range, that's why sneak attacks won't work on me anymore. My shield usually does it for me, but I get a feeling whenever someone tries to sneak up behind me. Why are you asking about that?"

Mikoto smiled as she held onto her shoulder

"We're going to be busy…" said Mikoto.

* * *

**Part 3**

He was feeling really bad now.

After seeing the Knight…..

"H-Hey Stiyl, what did the guy-"

The priest immediately frowned, "A confession is something sacred and cannot be broken. We might've been from different Sects but everybody prays for salvation in the end."

"O-Okay, I'm sorry…..D-Do you think he had anybody?"

"What like family? Of course, he did."

"..."

Kamijou lowered his head dejectedly. He was already tired from having to walk up the stairs since they couldn't use the elevator, and with the dark and murky thoughts, he started to feel that he should give up…

(Think about happy things, hurry up and think of something happy) Kamijou's heart was in urgent need of rest.

Then an idea formed.

"Oh yeah, what about phones?"

"What?"

"You just mentioned the front side of the coin and the backside of the coin, right? Will phones work?" Kamijou said as he pulled out the phone.

Though he had said that, Kamijou realized that this was just an excuse he made for himself. He just wanted something to distract himself.

As for who to call, Kamijou didn't need to think at all.

The phone rang three times.

(So it won't work...?)

The phone rang six times.

(...Looks like I'll have to give up.)

The phone rang nine times.

(Hurry up and pick up!)

Though he was feeling impatient, Kamijou didn't want to hang up the phone.

"Hya, Hyai! This is Index Libror—excuse me, I'm sorry. This is Saten speaking! Hello!"

Index's somewhat absurd voice could be heard.

"Is this the first time you're picking up a call?"

"Uweeh!? This, this voice is Touma's. Eh? Do all the voices in the phone sound the same?"

Then, a knocking sound could be heard.

"Index! Stop knocking the machine whenever you feel that it has a problem!"

"Give me that runt! Hello?"

"Yuki?"

The #1 snorted, "Apparently she can't even pick up the phone by herself either, she spent a good minute just smacking the phone around trying to get it to stop."

"Yeah, she's still getting used to technology."

This was to be expected. It should be Index's first time picking up a landline phone. She was able to use a portable one with...mixed results. The most she could do was open the preloaded videos Mikoto reluctantly downloaded for her.

"So what do you want?"

"Ah, nothing—"

"Gimmie! Hello? Touma?"

"Oh hey, Index it was—"

"Ah, did you call because I kept Sphinx!?"

"You what!? Oh, whatever."

Before Kamijou could continue, the voice could be heard again.

"Ah, I also ate all the pudding"

"You what!? That was for Saten as a thank you for taking care of you!"

"But it was really good."

"Are you kidding me!? Those were expensive to make! Each one cost me about 700-yen!" Kamijou cried. "Oh, oh well. Never mind."

"Eh? Touma, are you looking for me for something?"

"Uh... I'm just testing if I could get to you through the phone. I'm hanging up. Ah, oh yeah. Did you know, Index? For every single minute you use the phone, your lifespan will be shortened by one day accordingly?"

"Waah!"

The phone line was cut. It seemed like the entire receiver dropped onto the floor.

"...Such a simple-minded girl."

Having taken revenge for his pudding, he looked beside him at the magician who was staring at him as if he wanted to say something.

"W-what is it?"

"Nothing." Stiyl sighed and continued. "It's just that I feel that you might be too relaxed. This is a battlefield, and yet you're chatting away nonchalantly with a girl. I don't really care if you die because of carelessness; in fact, I'll be dancing in joy, but please don't drag me down."

"Are you jealous?"

"!?..."

Stiyl remained silent,

"...Yeah, that's right."

Without looking at Kamijou's face, Stiyl spoke.

"You should know that up until now, that child had to erase her memories once every year or else she would die. If so, you can imagine how many people were in your position."

"..."

"Over the years, these people have tried to play various roles for her: father, brother, friend, teacher. I tried once and failed, then you tried and ended up saving her. That's all. That's the only difference between you and me."

Stiyl stared at Kamijou's face.

"However, I would be lying if I say that I don't care." Stiyl sighed and continued. "Besides, I didn't really get abandoned by Index, it's just that she forgot. If she recovered her memories, she'd come running at me to hug me."

(If there was a person, a very important person to me that lost her memory, not knowing anything, and somebody just steps in and accompanies her, how would I feel? Can I still remain calm?)

Kamijou sighed, he already knew the answer.

"Maybe, but before that, you'd have to apologize for everything you've done. Did you know when Index found out you were her friend before her memory got erased she was happy."

For a brief moment, a glimmer of hope peered through his eyes.

"Even though you chased her and made her life even more of a hell than it already was, she was happy that she actually had people that cared about her."

Stiyl was silent for a moment before turning around, outside of Kamijou's view.

"...Ahem!...We should get going now."

* * *

After climbing up to the fifth level, Kamijou and Stiyl arrived onto the corridor.

In other words the location of the hidden room.

"According to the diagram, it should be right here."

The two kept knocking on walls hoping to find something.

"Hey, even if we do find the secret room, what do we do if it's locked? Would we just give up?"

"No matter how strong the boundary is, the one who set it up is Aureolus. We can just force him to remove the boundary by threatening him or by killing him."

"..."

Kamijou inadvertently stared at Stiyl.

**Kill**?

This is a battlefield, and Aureolus was the enemy they had to beat; Kamijou understood that.

But even so, Kamijou still couldn't just say things like "kill Aureolus". Even if he did kill that…..

However, Stiyl was different.

He said "**kill him**", not "beat him" or "stop him". He just said "**kill him**", with no ambiguity in the words.

They went towards the closest wall closest to the secret room. Then, both of them arrived at a student cafeteria.

Since it was evening, many students were in the cafeteria. Though none of the did particularly look the part of being in a cult. They all looked like ordinary students.

Stiyl looked around with a boring look.

"It doesn't look too dangerous."

Kamijou looked at a poster on the wall of the cafeteria.

It was an extremely ordinary cram school poster. Written on it were two extremely different sentences, "If you study hard now, you will get into a good school and have a great future for yourself assured", and…

..If you don't study now, you'll end up at the bottom and meet misfortune.

"Tch! What kind of school actually puts that up there. Like they know anything about misfortune!"

Immediately, about eighty students in the cafeteria turned to stare at him.

At first, Kamijou thought that he spoke too loudly and ended up attracting everyone's attention.

"Uh-oh"

Even after hearing Stiyl's serious voice, Kamijou was still unable to react.

"Ah, eh?"

"Haven't you understood the situation? The people on the front side of the coin shouldn't be able to see us on the backside of the coin."

"..."

Kamijou looked around.

About eighty students were definitely looking at them.

"Wait what do we do now!?"

Just as Kamijou asked that Stiyl abandoned Kamijou and ran back.

However,

One of the students who were standing around started to mutter something ambiguous.

And then another,

And another,

Until an eighty-person chorus no, rather, a verbal pandemonium filled the room.

On every single student's forehead was a ping-pong sized bluish-white glow.

"Wha-what's happening!?"

"Hey! Talented one! Time for you to step up!"

"What? ...Hey!"

Turning around, Kamijou's field of vision was completely filled by hundreds of bluish-white orbs that were closing in.

"Wah, so many, how do I block them all!?"

Kamijou took a moment to look at his two hands and then at the literal hailstorm of glowing ping pongs of death heading for him.

It didn't take him much time to realize that staying here was not the best option.

Kamijou chased after Stiyl and overtook him, dashing madly to the exit.

"W-what are you running away for!? You're the shield!" Stiyl, who had thought that Kamijou would act as a shield, panicked somewhat as he tried to catch up.

"Screw that! I'm not the Shield Hero! Besides how can I fend them off with just my hands!?"

"That's half the reason why I even brought you along!"

"Screw you! I'm not your meat shield! Besides what the hell even is that!?"

Continuing in his attempts to overtake Touma in a foot race, he replied, "Gregorian Chant. Essentially, it's a large scale spell formed by the voices of 3,333 monks in a holy shrine."

"Can a bunch of people chanting nonsense do anything to hurt us?"

"Why don't you go test that out for me?"

"I swear if you even try to trip me I'm gonna kick your ass!" Kamijou swallowed his breath as he ran "There's no way we can beat that head-on!"

"Not quite," Stiyl said as he continued to look in front. "The main emphasis is the core. If we find it and destroy it we should be able to stop the spell."

Both of them continued to run down the long corridor and finally arrived near the staircase.

At that moment, they saw that there was a large number of bluish-white balls flooding in.

"Stairs, now!"

Kamijou and Stiyl frantically ducked under the stairs beside them.

Kamijou wanted to ask if they should up or down, but something didn't feel right.

"You... you've been looking so calm up until now. Do you have some sort of secret plan?"

"Hm, I do have a secret plan. It's just that I'm wondering whether I should use it now."

"Are you kidding me!? If you have it, hurry up and use it!"

Stiyl happily looked at Kamijou's face.

Facing that abnormal smile, Kamijou inadvertently held his breath.

At that moment though…

Stiyl punched Kamijou in the face sending him tumbling down the stairs.

"Tough luck 🎶"

Stiyl's happy voice could be heard from above.

While dazed, Kamijou could see Stiyl running in the opposite direction, which was upstairs.

"Mother Fu-"

Before he could even finish that sentence he saw the bluish-white orbs come flooding in all of which were heading for him.

Kamijou barely dragged his body that was in pain and ran downstairs.

Suddenly it all became clear to him.

Stiyl had said that he would be detected the moment he entered since he had Imagine Breaker.

He also said that his being the shield was half the reason for him bringing him along.

And if Stiyl didn't use magic, nobody would detect his presence.

In other words…

Kamijou was a distraction.

"I'm gonna beat the fu-"

And yet again, his train of thought was interrupted by another wave of those ominously glowing ping pongs flooding the stairs.

Dashing down the stairs he could see another student waiting for him at the bottom.

"The flames punish sin, Purgatory governs the flames. Purgatory was created to burn sinners, as the only violence God recognizes."

Every time she said something, the orb of bluish-white light between the girl's eyebrows would increase in size bit by bit.

Kamijou clenched his right fist. Though he definitely couldn't beat numerous of those floating balls, a few was no problem.

Just as Kamijou was about to reel his right arm back he heard a cracking sound.

The girl's face exploded as if firecrackers were placed underneath her skin.

"What...?"

"Affirmation is... recognition. Re... cog... ni"

Every time the girl said a single word, her body would start to crack. Her lips were cracked as well, and blood flowed out of her mouth as it seemed like her insides were severely damaged.

"Oh no…"

Espers can't use magic.

The anxiety rose up Kamijou's stomach….

"Stop it! If you keep this up, your gonna...gonna.."

He even forgot to clench his fist. Even though it felt like a gun was being pointed his head, he still dashed down the stairs.

The girl that was muttering then suddenly let out a deep voice and went silent. The bridge between her eyebrows exploded.

The bluish-white orb that she had summoned disappeared. The girl's body swayed about and tumbled towards the stairs.

_(Is...is she dead?)_

This was just like it was with the knight, technically she was the enemy. And nothing would be gained if he saved her.

_(If I value my life I should just keep running. )_

_(Staying here won't save her and….)_

Hearing the voices in his mind caused Kamijou to inadvertently gnash his teeth.

"Shut the hell up!"

Kamijou rushed down the stairs and reached his hand out to save the girl who was about to collapse on the stairs.

Even if she was the enemy and helping her would likely get them both killed by the orbs…

Even then, there was no reason to abandon a girl who was wounded. Even if he looked around the entire world, he couldn't find a reason to allow that.

She was probably just some student who wanted to go to school and have a regular life. She probably never even intended to get mixed up in any of this. She probably had a family and friends who were waiting for her to come back home and…

Kamijou remembered the knight who had fallen in front of the elevator.

Any kind person couldn't possibly leave him alone injured, even if he was an enemy.

Even an enemy has people who still wait for them to come home…

"Damn it!"

Carrying the bloodied girl, Kamijou tried to run down the stairs but…

At that moment…

The tidal waves of orbs had already surrounded them.

***SHATTER!***

Kamijou frantically used his right hand to knock away the balls in front of him, while carrying the girl with his left hand and rushing down the final steps.

Just that little lag caused thousands of orbs to form a vortex around Kamijou.

"...Agh!"

Kamijou reflexively shut his eyes and began to think.

He was dead…

Kamijou covered the girl's body with his own in the hopes of protecting her.

And then…

Nothing happened.

Kamijou's body still shook, in his mind, he thought if he dared open his eyes then the vortex would swallow him whole.

Even so, he had to open his eyes.

But even after opening his eyes, Kamijou still didn't understand what was going on.

The orbs that were once about to swallow him whole and leave nothing behind were now stopped in mid-air.

After a while, the orbs began dropping down onto the floor.

He didn't know what was going on anymore but he could hear it.

Footsteps.

Looking for the answer, Kamijou stared downstairs as he looked for the source of the footsteps.

The stairs were linked downstairs to the entrance of the corridor, and the sunset sun was shining on the dark emergency stairs.

Over there was Deep Blood Himegami Aisa was looking up at him.

* * *

**Part 4**

They needed to review what information they had.

On the rooftop, they both looked down at the Anti-Skill agents who were currently trying to find any clues on this seemingly random attack.

Mikoto turned to look down at the tall woman who was probably the captain.

Using her PDA she hacked into their comms to eavesdrop on them.

'Captain Yomikawa we couldn't find any bullet fragments around the initial location of the shooting'

'Mhm...I thought that might happen, there were several eyewitnesses reports of an esper using their ability to block the incoming fire, expand the search radius and start looking for the fragment in the debris. This attack was most likely done by a pseudo radical organization so I want…. '

Mikoto shook her head in praise, "She's good."

"C-Can you tell me why you decided to drag me around?"

Mikoto turned to look at the #6 who was currently pacing back and forth.

"We have to find the pseudo radicals who opened fire here. You don't want them to walk free do you?"

"N-No but...shouldn't we just leave this to Anti-Skill?"

Mikoto bit her lip and thought about what she said,

"We could leave this in their hands, but these are the type of people who would indiscriminately open fire on people who had nothing to do with this. The longer they walk free the more likely there is to be another shooting. Besides, from the looks of what they were wearing it looked like they meant business."

Aihana nodded, "I-I guess, so what do you need me to do?"

"I'm guessing your ability has some type of clairvoyance that lets you see everything in your radius. My tracking skills can get me as far as a general location so I'm gonna need your help to pinpoint them down. I'll handle the rest."

"Y-You'll handle the rest?"

Mikoto nodded, "I can tell you're not the fighting type so you can just leave that to me. But I really do need your help here Aihana-san. Can I count on you?"

The look in her eyes held no hostility only pure sincerity. She wanted to find the people who did this so that no other people would get hurt.

Aihana sighed and nodded, "O-Okay let's go."

Mikoto grabbed her shoulder and smiled, "Great,"

However, for some reason, her eyes traveled 30 cm down.

In particular, the region below the collarbone.

Mikoto had a dead look in her eyes.

"W-What's wrong?"

She chuckled dryly, "You were wearing such baggy clothes last time that I didn't notice...How old are you again?"

"The same age as you. Why?"

Mikoto hung her head down.

"Why do I feel like I just won?"

And like that, the 2 of them were subtracted from the equation.

* * *

**Part 5**

"It looks bad, but the injuries aren't serious. Treatment will suffice."

Deep Blood Himegami Aisa spoke calmly.

"B-but she's covered in blood!"

Kamijou placed the girl on the floor, and couldn't help but roar on seeing her.

Her face, hands and other exposed parts of the skin were covered in blood.

"Only her skin that was damaged caused damage to the capillaries. Had her arteries ruptured, it would have been worse. The blood would gush out like a fountain."

"How do you-"

She sighed, "I'm more informed about the flow of blood than others."

Kamijou looked at the girl with pleading eyes, "Please help me save her."

Without wasting another minute the two gave immediate first aid treatment to the girl.

After finishing, Kamijou looked visibly tired, not only was this emotionally taxing it was mentally to since he had to force himself to help dress her wounds…

"We're all done for now, at least," Himegami said as she closed her first-aid kit.

"Wow, you're amazing just now. Are you a certain doctor that operates without a license?"

"I'm not a doctor."

Just as Kamijou was about to ask what she was, Himegami replied.

"I'm a magic-user."

"On what basis?"

"I have a magic wand."

"H-hey, hold on! That's a police baton!"

"New model."

"Stop waving that thing around!? Gyhaa! And turn it off!"

While backing away from her and criticizing her at the same time, Kamijou collapsed on the floor.

It was a really comfortable feeling, being able to finally calm down.

"I'm going back. We can't leave the wounded here. We're gonna take her to a hospital."

Himegami stared at Kamijou with an inexplicable look. "We're?"

"Yeah, we came here to save you in the first place. Come on let's get out of here."

Himegami was unresponsive, and only revealed a frozen look of surprise.

"Why?"

"Why? Do I need a reason to save others?"

Himegami was shocked again, remaining stiff.

And that time, it seemed like she blushed.

"But, I..."

Himegami Aisa seemed like she intended to say something.

But then they heard it.

"Damn it! Damn it! Absolutely, Why am I so injured! He's supposed to be material, yet he's dragging me down...Kuku, hoho, dragging me down? Dragging me down? That's interesting, isn't it, Aureolus Izzard! Kuku! Kukuku! You bastards looked down on me! Inevitably, I'm going to melt you all down...!"

With an extremely loud swoosh, with the sound of something being dragged, the sound of something being could be heard, and the man escaped down the stairs and made it to the corridor.

Kamijou was inadvertently stunned. That was a green-haired foreigner in a white Western suit.

However, his left hand and leg were sliced off on the joints, and there was a slanted golden stick attached to the damaged parts.

He had a mad look on him that was a mix of anger, hatred, happiness, and craziness all mixed into one.

His hands looked like they were dragging rubbish, but he was grabbing the collars of bloodied boys and girls. Three on each side, six altogether.

"Wha... what's going on?"

The crazed man stared at Kamijou with bloodshot eyes, and said, "Kid, what are you doing here!? Only magicians are allowed to be here! Are you an intruder? That flame magician's friend!?"

Even though he had the look of a deranged serial killer you'd see in a movie, Kamijou still stood his ground.

"You... these people."

"Aureolus Izzard and his Limen Magna are standing before you. Naturally, these are just materials! Alchemy requires materials! Why are you looking at them? That's too strange! Why are you still looking at the materials!? I should be perfect! Why are you looking away!? What am I lacking!?"

The name Aureolus Izzard shocked Kamijou, causing him to back away.

However, Himegami Aisa, who was beside him, maintained her expression.

"Poor thing... If you didn't realize the truth, you could have continued being Aureolus Izzard."

"T-That's not him!?"

Himegami Aisa shook her head, "He's simply a dummy that thinks he's human."

"Ku...!? Damn you!"

As Aureolus Dummy growled, a large golden arrowhead flew out from his hand and shot towards the students he was carrying.

The arrowhead pierced through those bloody students that Aureolus Dummy was dragging around.

"What... Do you know what you're doing, you bastard!?"

The six students that were stabbed through by the arrowhead were immediately melted into something that looked like golden liquid.

Ignoring the man before him, Kamijou Touma was only worried about the students that were melted.

Facing Kamijou, who completely ignored his killer technique, Aureolus Dummy was as angry as ever.

"Die Kukuku!"

With that cry, the golden arrowhead and chain started to spin around the alchemist like a whip trying to cut Kamijou where he stood. Around it swung the golden liquid that he had just made.

Seeing the incoming fight, Himegami started moving.

She silently bent down and carried the injured girl away before backing away.

Kamijou followed Himegami, who was carrying the girl and backed away.

But at that moment, the golden arrowhead lunged at him with terrifying speed.

The first swing missed and attacked something behind him, but the second came straight towards Kamijou.

Though he wanted to dodge it, Kamijou was backing away and couldn't.

He could only choose to use his left hand to block the incoming attack.

***Reverb**Crunch***

The sound of inhuman crunching echoed through the halls.

The long golden arrowhead which had turned the students who it pierced into something akin to liquid gold was now being consumed.

The arrow was being bent into an impossible shape and as if it was being passed into a drinking straw as it was absorbed.

The sound didn't stop.

The golden chain that was still attached to the Aureolus Dummy's body was beginning to be dragged in.

The sounds of the chains being forcefully pulled against his body echoed in the hall.

The chain which was wrapped around the Aureolus Dummy's body began to tighten until the sounds of muscles ripping could be heard.

Kamijou panicked.

He didn't know what was happening or how to stop it.

The chain kept being dragged in and in turn, the chain around Dummy Izzard's continued to squeeze him until the sounds of bones crunching could be heard.

Before something that couldn't be undone occurred Kamijou swiped his right hand towards the chain.

***Shatter!***

The golden chain around Aureolus Dummy's body started to disintegrate like it was made of sand.

The Imagine Breaker of Kamijou's right hand started to work.

Kamijou saw the damage he had done.

He inadvertently frowned and looked away.

Lying in the golden fluid, Aureolus Dummy tried to crawl away.

He roared as he dragged his broken body across the hall.

* * *

Aureolus Dummy continued to tread through the corridor. It felt like that corridor was so long that there was no end to it.

After the chain was grabbed by that boy, Limen Magna had lost all its power, but that wasn't much. The golden arrowhead was just a tool that was materialized. Limen Magna's actual identity was actually that of the entire Misawa Cram School base.

Even if the tool's magic supply got cut off, as long as the main body was supplied with magic power and the shape of the tool was recreated, he could use it again.

Thus, that wasn't the reason why Aureolus Dummy ran away.

The reason why he had run away was because of the power of that boy's left hand. It seemed to be limitless. No matter how much magic power he absorbed from the main body and into the golden arrowhead, it would just be consumed.

It was like a never-ending abyss. If that kept up, the main body would have run out of magic power. Such a crisis sent chills down Aureolus Dummy's spine.

"Ku, damn..."

Now that his body was crushed he had to escape.

He could no longer go after the boy or the flame magician.

The 1,982 'materials' beside him were useless to him now.

That wouldn't be enough to fill whatever void the boy had inside him.

An endless and bottomless void of nothingness.

"Damn it! I can't die! There's still Deep Blood and all sorts of research materials that are incomplete! How can I die!? No, not just this! There are still fifty thousand human specimens in the world worth researching! Haha! It's a pity for that boy, I have to kill him before I can even understand the secrets in his body!"

His anger ripped through the air like a hot blade.

But the sound of footsteps behind him sounded like a sharper blade.

"...!?"

Anyone could tell that Aureolus Dummy's back seemed to shrink after hearing the footsteps.

Normally, ordinary people would choose to run away when they were afraid.

However, he wasn't so fortunate as his body was destroyed.

The footsteps contained rage with despair but most of all they contained killing intent.

His heart was telling him to run crazily without even looking, but his body was already unable to endure such pain any more.

Aureolus Dummy could only turn back like a puppet being manipulated.

Over there, right over there.

Ten meters away, stood Kamijou Touma, looking like a savage beast.

"Wh-what's going?"

Aureolus Dummy didn't understand. He was supposed to be perfect, so why could someone force him into such a state?

"...Enough screwing around, you bastard They didn't come back."

Kamijou's muttering caused Aureolus Dummy to frown.

It would seem that the boy believed that he could revive the students with that right hand of his. But they were all already gone.

Kamijou saw hell. He saw people die right in front of him, and he understood that someplace where he couldn't see, a lot of people must have died, but at least he managed to save an injured girl.

However, that alchemist in front of him just took away the only saving grace in his heart.

In the first stray shot he fired, he had struck the girl and…

Kamijou's eyes were glaring at the enemy.

His eyes were filled with burning iron-like killing intent.

Aureolus Dummy frantically tried to raise Limen Magna. However, he soon realized that his body was so damaged from before, he couldn't throw the chain.

Kamijou did not rush.

He walked towards the murderer in front of him.

There was nothing he could do to run away.

Seeing as his body was destroyed Aureolus Dummy tried to crawl away all the while leaving a trail of the golden chains.

Upon seeing the chains that were used to kill who knew how many people, something snapped.

Kamijou raised the golden chain and whipped it on the crawling Aureolus Dummy like a whip.

The heavy hit caused all the air in Aureolus Dummy's lungs to be forced out, causing him to roll about on the floor in pain.

Kamijou silently closed in on the alchemist and stepped on his back, proceeding to wrap the chain around its former master's neck.

He could end him with just one thought.

The feeling he had from before…

If he had that again then his left hand would do all the work for him.

Kamijou didn't carry any emotions to his own actions. Or rather, he couldn't. His mind and blank and hot, and reality was nothing to him.

"I... gya... sp-spare me."

However, those words caused Kamijou's mind to lose all of his anger.

It was an unreasonable request. How many people had that person killed? Thinking of it, one could tell that there was only one choice. Even in those superhero movies, nobody would hesitate over killing such a person.

It was made in a lab.

It was a monster not even human enough to care about the people he used as 'materials'

It knew it couldn't run, but Aureolus Dummy continued to reach his arm out and struggle.

Kamijou started to recall. The knight who was abandoned in the hall, the students who still continued with the incantations of the Gregorian Chant even with their bodies breaking, and the anonymous girl who had turned into molten gold while being protected by Himegami.

He knew that there was only one choice.

Kamijou wordlessly tugged at the golden chain with his left hand.

But in the end, he could only choose to let go.

* * *

Aureolus Dummy continued to crawl away on the floor. He barely escaped from that person who had caused his downfall, wondering about the misfortune that happened around him and relieved that he was still alive.

Aureolus Dummy smirked as he leaned on the wall.

There was no way that boy could've killed him, he was 'human' after all.

Aureolus Dummy had no idea which floor he landed on, all he remembers was crawling away and rolling down the stairs.

Ever since that boy touched his Limen Magna he felt as though his strength was being sapped away.

It was then that Aureolus Dummy truly realized he wasn't a human. If the boundary wasn't there to provide him with energy, he couldn't even stand up.

Aureolus Dummy sighed as the feeling in his fingers gradually faded, and yet he was feeling satisfied.

Footsteps were heard.

Aureolus weakly looked up the stairs and saw Stiyl standing there.

"Naturally, I can see... you haven't gotten sick of killing me?" The alchemist mocked himself and said, "Even if you leave me alone, I'll certainly die anyway, so why do you still want to kill me?"

"Yeah. It's true that I have no interest in killing you. But it seemed as though that child interacted with you." Stiyl said with an uninterested tone.

"Of course, since I lost, you can just go ahead and think of the reason." Aureolus Dummy smirked and said, "Speaking of which, since you're not interested in me, why are you here? Naturally, can't I just die alone?"

"It's the complete opposite, idiot. I'm here to send you off."

"..."

For a while, Aureolus Dummy stared blankly at Stiyl's face.

Then, he smiled. It was a rarity for the man, but he smiled.

"I see, since the last one to fight me was the boy the blame would naturally land on him, wouldn't it? You people are so sentimental."

There was still some time until Aureolus Dummy died off due to his injuries.

Less than ten minutes.

"Hmph." Aureolus Dummy smiled. "I can't tell if you are an angel or the devil."

"These are two beings of similar natures, the only difference is where they take their orders from."

Stiyl slowly walked down the stairs.

"**Fortis931 — I prove why my name is the strongest here**."

Stiyl's black coat flipped out, and numerous rune cards scattered out.

Seeing Stiyl walk down the stairs, Aureolus Dummy muttered to himself. If so, what was his magic name?

Aureolus Dummy began to recall.

"**Honos628 — My honor is for the world**."

Having finally remembered his name and purpose, Aureolus Dummy narrowed his eyes.

"Do I need to make a final prayer for you as a priest? Alchemist?"

Walking down the stairs, Stiyl Magnus spoke as he arrived in front of the alchemist.

"Stop dragging this on. You're just a mere magician-"

The moment Aureolus Dummy replied, Stiyl's flames entered him through the mouth, quickly burning through the insides of his body.

The flames burst out from all the openings. The abdomen then started to break, splitting him into two parts. Large amounts of flames continued to spur out, causing Aureolus Dummy's upper body to shoot out like a rocket.

Upon seeing the remnants Stiyl sighed, "Don't say I never did anything for you boy."

* * *

**Part 6**

At that moment, in a certain student dormitory, three students were having dinner.

"Thank you for the meal Ruiko!"

"It's no problem, really."

Though the two girls were eating the #1 only sat down and picked at his meal. He wasn't particularly hungry as he was trying to stay alert.

If what he said was true then someone could try to burst through that door any minute now and he didn't want to be distracted when it did happen.

"So, Ruiko did you hear any rumors today?"

Saten smiled, even though having Index as a roommate was hard it was well worth it for the benefits it came with.

One being having a human fact-checker for all the rumors she was going to hear. She would have believed them regardless but having paper evidence was always good so she could prove it to her friends.

"Hmm, I heard a bunch today but only one of them really stuck out to me. About Clones."

Yuki's eyes widen at those last words.

"Clones?"

Saten nodded, "Apparently there's a rumor that there's some kind of project out there trying to clone Level 5s. So I wanted to know what you knew about clones."

His attention was now fully undivided.

Normally Index would be hesitant to share this information, but since Saten was a friend as well as an esper who had no way of using any of this knowledge she spoke freely, boasting about her superior knowledge on the subject.

"I know a little about clones, mostly about the **homunculus**, theoretically speaking it would be possible to grow a homunculus in the exact shape an image of anyone who you wished it to, but that doesn't necessarily mean they would be an exact match. For example, the clone would just be a weaker replica of whatever they were made from and they would be significantly less intelligent since their knowledge would be limited.

(You're right on that point.)

"You'd also have to worry if the homunculus ran wild and thought that they were the original. Since they are beings with no true sense of purpose they tend to have little to no morals to them. Though many magicians have tried to find a way around these limitations. For example, the **Rosenthal Family** a family of Necromancers used artificial souls to increase the effectiveness of their magic which revolves around golems by using charms to better control and regulate them."

Saten frowned, "So clones aren't real people, huh?"

(Of course, they're not. They're just wind-up dolls built to be aimed in a direction and that's it.)

"I didn't say that."

Both the student's eyes shot up at that revelation.

"Have you heard of the Tree of Sephirot? I guess you haven't but it basically depicts the 'soul level' of God, angels, and humans on a class status diagram. So while these theoretical 'clones' would be on the bottom-most layer of the chart with their souls being worth less than humans that doesn't mean their lives have no value. If there was such a thing as a perfect clone, then their soul is worth every much as a regular person."

The #1 looked at his meal with disgust at the words she had said.

"I gotta go."

"Heh? Yuki where are you going? You haven't even touched your food?"

Without another word, he walked out of the room.

* * *

She didn't know what she was talking about.

There was no way those wind-up dolls were actually worth as much as a real person.

They were grown in test tubes built with the sole intention of making him stronger.

They didn't even have emotions the most they ever talked about was how they were going to try to kill him next.

If they were real people, then that would mean….

"No! There's no way that their real!"

He continued to yell that as though it was a mantra as he continued down the streets.

* * *

At that moment, in a certain student dormitory, or rather, the girl Index, who was watching the house, was exchanging looks with the stray cat Sphinx while Saten cleaned up the dishes.

That calico cat was a bit of a problem child. It didn't chase after a thrown ball of yarn, it continued to nest under a table even after its name was called, and it would snatch other people's food when eating.

The last point was really a serious thing. To Index, who had a vicious appetite.

There were a few questions in her mind. The first was what was said during the conversation she had with Touma.

He was way too relaxed about all the things Index did. Usually, he would scold her for her behavior but this time he just let it go.

The second was how Yuki just ran off.

Could the two be related?

Index steeled her resolve and left the room.

She realized that even if she wanted to question Touma or Yuki she had to know where they were. Of course, calling them was not an option. She still had no idea how to use a phone. She could ask Saten but she would probably tell her not to worry.

Right as she was about to give up she saw something stuck to the side of the wall.

It was the rune card that the magician Stiyl Magnus used.

Index had mixed feelings about him. Touma had said that he was her friend from when she lost her memories, but he didn't act like it.

Something was definitely going on. They had definitely left Index alone to deal with things alone.

As the keeper of the 103,000 grimoires, she knew the workings of Stiyl's magic. The runes required magicians to continuously provide magic power and maintain it.

Though Index couldn't use magic, she could trace the magic power, back to its host so she wouldn't get lost.

Just like that, Index ran off to the battlefield without even locking the door.

Leaving Saten behind none the wiser of her escape.

* * *

**Part 7**

Stiyl Magnus was heading to the top level of the North block.

Thinking back about it, Stiyl suddenly thought of that boy who was sent out as bait. To Stiyl, it was painless even if that boy dies.

From the beginning, Stiyl had told him that he wasn't his ally, and he made it clear that he was using him as a shield.

But when that boy had been pushed down, he still looked like he was betrayed.

It was an expression that showed that he had been backstabbed.

That caused Stiyl to be uneasy.

Though it was meaningless, he ended the Dummy Auleuros so the boy didn't.

"I don't understand at all, what are you so anxious about?"

An icy voice could be heard from behind Stiyl.

He slowly turned his head around. He knew what would happen if he let the enemy get behind him without him knowing.

Behind Stiyl Magnus stood...

* * *

"Hm, so it's over here?"

As the orange sunset mixed with the purple night, Index arrived in front of Misawa Cram School.

The building in front of her was bizarre. Though it looked normal, the flow of Magic could be seen as it touched the walls.

This was likely the place that they had gone too.

The moment she stepped in, she felt that the atmosphere was different.

It was an icy cold feeling that one would feel uneasy walking into.

"Open!"

Another voice could be heard. The elevator doors that were ripped out from the inside opened sideways. The twisted metal elevator that shouldn't be open actually opened.

The ultimate magic that forced the surroundings to become reality based on one's own words.

"It can't be..."

Facing a puzzled and mumbling Index, a tall and lean man walked out of the lift, looking rather nonchalant. His green hair was combed back, and he was wearing a white Italian-made Western suit and high-classed leather shoes.

"Hm, it's been a while, but I don't think you remember me. But even if you don't remember, I should say what I have to say. It's been a while, Index. It seems like you forgot about me. I'm really happy that you haven't changed."

The man's hand reached out at the lost Index, blocking her eyes.

Index could not move as she responded.

"I-it can't be... **Ars Magna**?"

The man responded with a gentle smile.

* * *

"Let's go back," said Kamijou "That person called Aureolus was beaten. I didn't kill him, but he's done. He can't fight. He's wounded so he can't chase us anymore... So…. let's just go home."

There was nothing left to protect.

The students of the Gregorian Chant couldn't be saved, and he defeated that alchemist responsible. There was no reason for Kamijou to remain there.

He just wanted to escape from that battlefield that was filled with death and go home.

He wanted to go home, he wanted to see them all again.

(As long as I can see 'her', I can go back to the normal world. Before I can't leave this battlefield, before I get used to this world that's full of killings and death, it's over if I can't get back to the original world.)

—***Reverb**Crunch***

Kamijou took a deep breath to calm himself down, trying to force himself not to think about that. That was because he realized that if he continued to think on, his mind would crumble.

Kamijou sighed as he thought that.

"Let's go already."

Himegami Aisa shook her head, "No you should go, I don't think the real Aureolus Izzard would stop you if you left now. Unlike that fake, he doesn't kill indiscriminately."

"Hold on, you're coming along with me, aren't you?"

"No."

Kamijou was shocked, unable to say anything.

"Don't be mistaken. I have my own aim. And my aim doesn't involve escaping from here. On the contrary, my goal can only be achieved here."

Himegami didn't sound lost, and one may even think that she was Aureolus' friend from the way she spoke.

"But no matter what aims you have, that guy didn't treat you as an ally, right? If you're one, why are you imprisoned here?"

"I was imprisoned before he took control of Misawa Cram School."

"...!?"

"Do you really want to know how I was treated here? Do you want to know why are there so many secret rooms here? I don't think you can handle the truth."

"..."

"Ever since that alchemist came here, the secret rooms were never used again. I'm just staying here, I don't feel the need to go out. And if I do so, I'll attract 'that'."

"V-Vampires."

Himegami Aisa's face seemed shocked for a moment but then returned to normal.

"That's right...My blood has the power to attract them with a sweet scent and also kill them. Lure them, kill them ...that's all I can do."

Kamijou's eyes widened.

"Do you know what vampires are like? They're no different from us. They cry, smile, get angry, get happy, laugh for others, and act for others. All of these people without exception are killed when I'm around."

"I don't want to kill anyone. I decided that I'd rather kill myself than to kill others."

"But that..."

"Please don't try and convince me. And it's not a bad thing. Aureolus said before that he can create an even simpler boundary. It's a boundary that takes the appearance of clothes, called a Walking Church."

"..."

"I have my goals, Aureolus has his own goals. We need each other to fulfill our own goals. So if I explain to him that you want to leave, he would listen."

"...Tell me something. Since you don't want to attract vampires, why was it that you were eating outside when we first met?"

"It's simple. Aureolus needs me because he wants a vampire. If I continue to stay inside the boundary, I can't get one."

"But you just said-"

"Aureolus is strong enough to capture them without having to kill them. He needs one so he can save someone he cares about. ...But even if I intended to escape, why are you here?"

"Of course I'm here to save you. Do I need a reason?"

Himegami smiled.

"Unbelievable. But don't worry, I wasn't imprisoned. You can relax and go back, there won't be any problems."

"...**That won't do**."

It sounded like a whisper to the ear, but the owner of the voice didn't seem to have transferred that voice through physical means, not through the air.

Footsteps could be heard from behind Himegami.

In the distance, a tall man could be seen more than thirty meters away.

In the blink of an eye, Kamijou saw someone appear right in front of him.

Seeing Aureolus suddenly appear in front of him, Kamijou's mind was unable to comprehend what had just happened and froze.

(How?)

The only thing that could describe that person in front of him was that he was really strong.

(Dangerous!)

Kamijou's instincts were telling him that.

(This person is dangerous!)

Kamijou clenched his right hand and swung "...Damn it! You bastard!"

"In any event," The alchemist calmly stated, "_**You shall not touch me**_." Immediately, there was a drastic change.

He missed.

His fist was about to hit him and it missed. It wasn't as though he moved either it was like the space in between him and his fist seemed to expand infinitely.

Kamijou felt a chill and stopped, not daring to approach Aureolus. His body was even telling him that he would be in danger if he tried to close in.

Suddenly, Aureolus pulled out a thin needle that was as thick as a hair from his white Western suit. There was a faint smell of antiseptic from it.

"Dissa-"

Just as the stern alchemist was about to say something...

"—Wait!"

Himegami suddenly appeared between both of them and called out,

"Aureolus Izzard, what do you want?"

Hearing Himegami say that Aureolus's eyebrows twitched.

"Are you going to get ordinary people involved in this, If that kind of meaningless act is your objective, then I shall quit. I already told you before that I'm not afraid to end my own life"

Himegami's eyes never wavered.

Aureolus again pulled out another needle and stabbed it into his neck. "Necessarily. We can't waste time on such things," The alchemist said with a casual tone. "Don't worry, I won't kill him."

He pulled out the needle from his neck, and said, "Young man, as for what happened here—"

The alchemist seemed to have seen through Kamijou's damaged heart and smiled.

He then said, "_**Forget about everything that happened here**_."

* * *

The sun had set.

Accelerator sighed as he walked up the stairs to the dormitory that held Index.

She was probably going to be upset over the fact that he left, but he really didn't care.

He just wanted to clarify a few things with her before he made any decisions.

As he went to open the door, he realized something that made his heart drop.

He remembered that he had locked the door before he left.

"Oi! Where the hell is the runt!?"

Saten looked back at him with worry in her eyes and tears starting to form as she spoke to someone on the phone.

"I-I don't know. One minute she was here and the next she was gone. I'm trying to call Uiharu to see if she could help me find her but she's not picking up. I tried calling Judgement to but they didn't pick up! Why isn't anybody picking up!?"

Sadness could be seen in the girl's eyes. Index was her responsibility and no she was lost.

Accelerator could only click his tongue.

This was his fault. If he didn't storm off than the cultists probably wouldn't have been able to take her away.

He started to make his way back out the door when the girl spoke to him.

"Wait! Where are you going?"

He only gave one line as a response.

"To get her back."

He was going to make whoever was stupid enough to take her, wish for death.

* * *

Kamijou got up from the seat and looked around. A seat? Looking around, he found that he was inside a student bus stop. Looking around, he saw Misawa Cram school.

Kamijou tilted his head, looking puzzled. That's strange. Why was it that it seemed like he had forgotten something important?

Kamijou thought about the Misawa Cram School that he never went to before, and muttered,

"Never mind. If I can't remember, it's probably not important."

After making that conclusion, he continued to move forward.

He still had to get his resolve to talk to Senpai so he could ask her to help Aihana with her money problems.

"Money…" He grumbled under his breath.

He hadn't gotten an allowance ever since he was named a Gemstone and now he was digging into is savings.

Kamijou sighed and scratched his head with his hand.

***Shatter!***

With the sound of glass breaking, the day's memories rushed into Kamijou's brain.

Kamijou frantically turned around to look at the Cram school.

Aureolus had said "forget about everything", and Kamijou really forgot about everything. He had forgotten that the Misawa Cram School became a battlefield.

"Damn it!"

As he continued to run towards Misawa Cram School, he realized that the busy street he was on was empty.

That could only mean…

Kamijou spun around and saw at least 13 people clad in silver armor standing in front of the Cram school.

He could hear them all speak.

"...Percival has martyred himself in another land! The blood he shed shall be created for a better tomorrow!"

Kamijou remembered the knight who had died beside the elevator.

"Begin the attack now!"

The fully-armored man raised a large sword into the sky that gave off a red glow.

"**Revelation 8:7**"

"**The first angel sounded his trumpet, and there came hail and fire mixed with blood, ****and it was hurled down onto the earth!**"

Perhaps due to the effects of magic, a horn could be heard from the glowing sword echoing throughout the night.

A giant crimson spear descended parting the clouds and struck one of the four buildings of Misawa Cram School.

The tower was crushed to half of its original height like a squashed aluminum can. The glass shattered and interior decorations flew about in chaos.

"Shit, don't screw with me..."

Kamijou gritted his teeth. There was Stiyl, Himegami, many students and teachers, inside the building.

"Don't screw with me, you bastards!"

Kamijou ran forward towards the to check the bombardment site.

But at that moment, something changed.

"...!?"

The rubble that flew everywhere was now floating in midair, and the crumbled walls flipped back up. The pieces started to come together like a jigsaw puzzle, looking completely smooth like it got renovated.

(Hold on. Reverting things to normal... Don't tell me!)

Kamijou looked up at the sky. At that moment, the red lotus divine spear that was shot out from the sky to the roof of Misawa Cram School appeared there. Anyone could tell where the spear was aimed at. It really was an eye for an eye.

He turned to face the knights and saw that they collapsed onto the floor.

What's going on? Kamijou looked up at the night sky. Even the seven Level 5s in Academy City couldn't possibly create such a miracle.

Kamijou got rid of all his fears and still dashed off to Misawa Cram School.

The moment he passed through the automatic doors he saw it...

The interior of Misawa Cram School hadn't changed, and because of that, Kamijou started to have goosebumps. Not only that, all the students inside were unharmed as they continued to listen to the lessons.

The students should have been injured by the Gregorian Chant and melted by the Limen Magna, but it looked like nothing happened. Passing through a certain classroom on the corridor, Kamijou saw something and stopped.

(That girl...!)

Sitting in a seat in the very back of the wide classroom was a girl that Kamijou recognized. She was the girl who was turned to gold by Dummy Aureolus's Limen Magna.

She was over there. It was like nothing had happened right from the start, she was alive.

Under Aureolus' magic, life, and death, fortune or misfortune, normal and abnormal, all those were manipulated.

Such an act of madness left Kamijou dumbstruck.

Without knowing what do he ran through the corridor until he found a familiar face.

The person who had betrayed him and used him as bait, and yet could smile so shamelessly; Stiyl Magnus.

Under normal circumstances, he would be the last person he wanted to see but right now, he was a relief.

"Hm. The fact that you're here means... this place really is Japan? No wonder I've been seeing so many Asians this whole time, but what is this? This bizarre barrier structure seems to have a familiar smell of magic power but..."

Kamijou could tell that Stiyl's memories were also tampered with.

So he thought of a solution.

"Hey! Stiyl! Let me teach you a charm that'll help clear your mind!"

"...I believe that Kanzaki is a specialist in Oriental charms."

"Just do what I say. It's simple. Close your eyes and stick your tongue out!"

"?"

Stiyl looked rather suspicious but still followed what Kamijou had instructed.

And then, Kamijou declared, "Congratulations✩ Here's your prize for actually using me as bait and escaping by yourself!"

"...Eh?"

Then, Kamijou slammed an uppercut at Stiyl's chin with his right hand.

The lost memories were back. At the same time, Stiyl bit his tongue and rolled on the floor.

* * *

As Accelerator ran through the street using his Vector Transformation he heard a large explosion coming from the direction of the Cram School.

He clenched his fist as he thought of what could've happened.

His mind was a hot mess as thoughts of what could've happened to her filled it.

"I'm gonna kill th-…"

However, his anger was cooled when he heard a familiar voice.

"Ahh! I swear you deserved it!"

"Get back here!"

There in the entrance of the building, Stiyl Magnus was playing Tag with Kamijou Touma. Only in this scenario, he was using a giant flame sword to tag him with.

The sight was so ludicrous he had to rub his eyes just to make sure he wasn't hallucinating.

Once he confirmed that what he was seeing was reality he sighed.

He tilted his neck from side to side to crack it and…

"Guess he never does learn, does he?"

* * *

"Aureolus Izzard reflected the Gregorian Chant? ...How is that possible?"

The two boys watched the magician with cold eyes.

He was talking as though he wasn't currently being pinned down with air collars all around his body.

"Can you let me down now?"

Stiyl Magnus who was currently pinned to a wall by collars of air was suddenly dropped and fell 2 meters before reaching the ground.

After dusting himself off he began to light a cigarette

"If he really could do that then that would mean...Ars Magna."

Stiyl anxiously exhaled out the smoke of the cigarette and muttered.

"He even used chants like 'you shall not touch me' and 'forget about everything that happened here'. Is magic really that all-powerful that you can say anything and it appears!?"

"No, that was something different entirely."

"Then what did I just see? Everything really went as what he wanted."

Accelerator looked at the boy and unconsciously bit his own finger.

"Oi, are you saying that this guy could warp reality?"

Kamijou stiffened for a second before nodding.

Accelerator stared at the ground.

If this person really could control reality then that would mean….

He had no chance…

"Damn it we're wasting time here! Index is still in there!"

Stiyl clicked his tongue, "I'm well aware of her presence," he turned to the esper and glared, "Was it not your responsibility to watch over her!? What happened!?"

Accelerator clenched his fist.

He was always the strongest and always resented that fact since it caused him so many problems. Now when being the strongest would help him save someone he found himself being powerless.

If this man could really warp reality to his whims then his ability was useless.

"Tch! Couldn't even protect one girl now could you?"

(Damn it! He's right! The one time! The one time I actually want that damn title and it's useless!)

He screamed in his mind.

He joined the Project so he would become a Level 6 but now...right in front of him, in that building was the person closest to actually achieving that dream.

**Absolution**.

He could bend the world with his words.

He never thought he would actually curse his powerlessness but now, now that it might cost him her life. He wanted to achieve that dream.

"Hey fighting amongst ourselves isn't gonna help anybody! Stiyl what do you know about this guy?"

Stiyl's expression was a lot more serious than before as he spat the cigarette away.

"Listen, Kamijou Touma. Index had to have her memories erased every year. And because of that, she had to change her partners every year too. The partner three years ago was called Aureolus Izzard, and they were teacher and student."

Kamijou was shocked.

"But why?"

"It's simple. Every year the same results would happen. She would have to have her memories erased and forget everyone she ever knew. So it seems like he couldn't accept it."

Stiyl shook his head.

"However, even with all that power, it seems his dreams can't be achieved."

Accelerator slowly raised his head to listen.

"Why?"

"The reason is simple. The one who ruined his goal was you. You already saved Index."

Hearing that, Kamijou finally understood.

Aureolus Izzard was Index's partner three years ago. Ever since he had lost Index, he never had any contact with her, so he didn't understand the current situation.

In other words, Aureolus—

As the Magician and Gemstone were walking in towards the opening of the building the Magician turned his head.

"Are you coming esper?"

Suddenly the realization of the situation hit him.

These two were weaker than him.

No, it wasn't enough to say weaker as it would be an understatement, if he wanted to he could end both of them without even breaking a sweat.

So why?

Why were the people who were weaker than him walking towards a building that housed something stronger than him?

"Why? Why are you going in there?"

Kamijou turned his head, his face held no resentment nor did his voice have a patronizing tone as he spoke.

"Do I really need a reason to save somebody. I know he might be stronger but that doesn't give me the right to just walk away."

Each of his steps was made with determination.

He wasn't afraid to face the man who could claim to be the strongest.

So why?

Before the #1 knew it, he was trailing behind the two.

They all looked forward.

The huge doors leading to Misawa Cram School were wide open.

Then the Magician, the #1, and the 'Gemstone' walked in.

* * *

**Wow after re-reading this light Novel I realized how dark it actually was. To put in context how messed up this whole scenario was, basically 2,000 people died in front of Touma and were then resurrected back to life by Aureolus Izzard.**

**Yeah to say they censored the anime was an understatement since they didn't add Dummy Aureolus and his serial killer tendencies.**

**But now the climax begins!**


	31. Chapter 31 Devils in our Mind

**Hey, thanks for reading a Certain Scientific Counter. Thank you for everyone who left a review and I'd like to thank my Beta-Reader Graeskog for helping me edit this chapter. The final chapter for Deep Blood is here. And School has started again. Thank you for sticking by me and without further ado Q&A,**

**D N Works- Yeah, this story was a prelude to the things Kamijou has to deal with in the future if he's going to continue to protect his friends. And you'll see.**

**Fortitude501- YeahbI was trying to finish this before school, but I just managed to get that chapter out. And yeah I'm guessing they were cool with having that part in but removed the part with the students. And Accelerator doesn't really see himself as a blip as much as he sees Auleours as someone who has a power that happens to be stronger than him. What messed up Accelerator was the fact that people still wanted to challenge the reality warper even though they knew that they would likely just get killed, it puts his whole philosophy about having absolute power into perspective.**

**tsun- Thank you. And space constellation Stiyl! She's here because we're just about to get to the next arc and she's the main star for that one plus Touma did call her so she had to be dealt with. And yeah volume 2 was pretty different. **

**Aminadab Brulle- No problem. And I just saw that Omake and yeah he was right to choose, None of the Above! And yeah the brutality was pretty high but if you get to reading the other novels you'll see just how messed up it can get at times. And Index. I'm glad you like the foreshadowing. Thank you for the calculations, personally, that was something I didn't think o hard about but now that you mention it...It's time to pull out the good old TI-84!**

**BlueJack22- Mh-hm...Let's just forget that super dark period Index went through. Thank you for the comment.**

**nameless- I'm glad you like it! And yeah bullying a Fire Magician is a must. And we'll see where Yuki's journey leads him in the next Arc. And Pre-amnesia Touma was more realistic than post Amnesia because Post had an ideal version he had in his head since he knew that Pre Touma sacrificed himself for Index and he wanted to live up to that guy. The ending was when the three sides collide, a story an epic is born. And you are correct on that part. And you are on the right track. And for your last idea, it would only work if her clique knew who Touma was. The reason only 2 or 3 people know about him in the first place was to keep something like that from happening in the first place. As always thank you for the comment and I like your idea.**

**KRKing- Glad I could provide! And I like the 7 deadly sin reference! I'm glad you ship it and Thank you.**

**Anti-Mage 29- Yeah it wouldn't feel right to leave that stuff out since it helps shape him into who he is. ANd the next big Arc is that but first a break chapter! And you are correct.**

**Aminadab Brulle- Thank you for crunching the numbers. Remember the good old TI-84. Thank you as always.**

**Chris- Your right on the ridiculous buildings. Just look at the Space elevator! And yeah Touma's used to blood but seeing a corpse messes anybody up. But he held up pretty well. And yeah, Stiyl did say he was the shield...but he's still a jerk. And he is one sick puppy, I think the original only made him so he could have a body double when a vampire did show up or the church did break in so he could have time for a counter-attack, plus he was a research assistant if only indirectly. And we'll learn more about his ability as the story continues. And yes, Stiyl blew up the Dummy. And yeah that would be crazy. And Izzard kidnaps Index and inadvertently summons the #1 at his doorstep. And yeah, Touma has a hard time against those reality warpers...did you mention the Chibi goddess. And the punch was satisfying and the only reason he didn't do more was that he needed him to be in shape to help him against the big bad. And the #1 says hello. And yeah, Yuki's actually more shocked that people would still challenge the reality warper since it basically debunks his whole philosophy about how becoming absolute would detour opponents. And here we are! Thank you for the Review!**

**Devils in our Mind**

**Part 1**

It was 10:30 PM.

Tokiwadai Middle School had a strict curfew, so this girl should not have been out in the city this late.

"So you're sure they're in there Aihana-san?"

"Mh-hm. They're about 30 of them in there, are you sure you can do this?"

Misaka Mikoto was overlooking the building from above with her partner in Crime the #6.

"Of course."

Without any formalities, she jumped from the rooftop separating the buildings to land at her destination.

The Pseudo Radical Hideout

While her friend was confident about her victory, her much less willing accomplice had over things on her mind.

"(It's ten o'clock. Ten o'clock at night… Kwahh! The curfew! The curfew! I'm completely breaking curfew! Ohh, I can't believe I'm walking around the city at this hour! Should I really be doing this?)

Aihana was also a level 5 and this still worried her. Unlike her friend over there, there was no one to let her back inside her new place of residence. The scary woman (Kumokawa Seria) had warned her about what would happen if she stayed out late.

"(***Sigh*** I guess I'll have to stay at a hotel tonight. Dang it, I was supposed to be saving money until Kamijou talked to her.)"

Though she could shrug off a thermal bomb as though it was nothing, she was still a girl that didn't want to have to sleep on the streets.

Surrounded by various shopping bags the #6 watched from the rooftop as her partner in crime ripped the roof's door off its hinges and barged inside.

***Biri! Biri!***

It was oddly satisfying watching the bluish-white sparks shine the building windows as her friend shocked the living hell out of everyone inside.

It was a lot like how people watch boxing. Though most wouldn't approve of violence it didn't mean it wasn't entertaining to watch.

As interesting as it was to watch the scene from above, she couldn't help but get the feeling that she was forgetting something.

While turning her head away from the scene she squinted her eyes at the dimly lit streets below her.

While for a normal human it would be impossible to see what was going on with their vision alone as the distance and lighting of her surroundings were below optimal, she instead used her power.

She could use that power to accurately read the movements of the particles as small as gravitons in the air in any given space that was about 200 meters or more.

While essentially performing a three-dimensional scan of the space around her, the girl looked around and stopped her gaze on a single point.

Her face turned pale as she could sense what was in the alley behind the building her friend just entered.

In the alley, was 5 Anti Skill trucks fully loaded with personal as well as that same woman officer the two spied on earlier.

Aihana paced back and forth on the rooftop debating on what to do next.

"(I-I gotta go! No, but I can't just leave her in there! No! She said to stay right here and let her handle it! Agh! Wait, she can just get away herself right!? No, she's still wearing her uniform, it wouldn't be too hard to find an electromancer at Tokiwadai and pick them out of a lineup!)"

Aihana could see the Anti Skill Members begin to get ready with their assault on the hideout.

If she was going to make any decision it was now or never.

And so the #6 floated over to the other building.

* * *

***BANG!**BANG!**BANG!**BANG!**BANG!**BANG!* *BIRI BIRI!***

Mikoto shook her head at the sight in front of her.

"How many more times do I have to zap you? Am I going to have to start firing off railguns for you Radicals to start getting the picture!? And is an ordinary shotgun really a greater threat than that? Work your clever little heads to figure out the answer!"

The fight was as anticlimactic as you would expect. The moment she ripped the door off its hinges and rushed in she completely took her enemy by surprise.

At first, they tried to put up a fight by using various weapons they had in stock, but since most, if not all of them were powered by electronics, she was able to disable them with no issue.

The only weapons the radicals had now we're just some archaic shotguns that they were using in the hopes of getting out a lucky shot.

They were not lucky.

If they were, then they wouldn't have chosen the one street in all of Academy City that had two Level 5s in it at that time.

Now with the last radical currently cowering behind a flipped over couch firing potshots at the air, it seemed as though the battle was over.

With sparks flying off her bangs she pointed her finger in the general direction of the Radical's makeshift defense and let out a small stream of electricity.

The dreadful zap of a high-voltage current erased all other sounds.

A few sparks later, and the fight was over.

Mikoto stretched her body and sighed.

Before she could actually enjoy the moment however she heard someone call out for her.

Up above her, in the rafters of the ceiling was Aihana extending out her arm to her as if she was trying to give it to her.

"Over here! Come to me if you want to live!"

She paused for a bit before giving out her response.

"Eh?"

* * *

By the time Mikoto made it back outside, night had fully fallen.

This road was always dimly lit up, but it was now illuminated by plenty of red flashing lights. Several Anti-Skill vehicles were parked outside of the front-facing part of The Pseudo Radical Hideout.

They had finally done it.

They stopped the Radicals

"Wow, that was a close one."

Aihana panted as though she was trying to catch her breath.

Saving someone from Anti Skill was more stressful than she had originally thought especially when the person who you were supposed to escape with made you explain why you were saving them.

After a bit of running and a bit of floating from rooftop to rooftop, they finally managed to escape undetected.

What made it all the more difficult was the fact that she had to carry her bags with her the whole time.

"Thanks for that Aihana I really-"

Mikoto's eyes traveled to the floor as she saw something fall out of her friend's shopping bag.

Before she had a chance to receive it herself the #3 snatched it from the ground.

"Huh? What kind of Middle Schooler still needs a night light?"

"Give that back!"

Not putting up a fight, Mikoto handed the item in question back to its owner.

She seemed to stuff it back in her bag in a huff and turned away from her.

Mikoto sighed, she didn't want to upset her, "Look I'm sorry. Thanks for helping me back there."

Aihana seemed to slowly turn her head back, "And…."

This was a leading statement.

"And I'm sorry for ...blasting a hole in your old house's wall."

Mikoto apologized for politeness's sake, she still believed she was well within her right to do so since her friend's lives were in danger.

Her head seemed to turn back to face her even more.

"And…."

"And? What are you talking about? What else do you want me to apologize for?"

She shrugged, "I dunno. I just thought that you did something to me behind my back and was trying to get you to admit it."

"..."

This girl was someone who could not keep a secret. She couldn't even keep her plan a secret for more than a minute before admitting to it.

"Look I'm not the type of person to do something behind someone's back. If I had a problem with you I wouldn't go behind your back to solve it, I would go directly to you. I'm sorry about anything I did to you in the past, so are we good?"

She stuck her hand out in front of her expecting some kind of response.

Aihana looked at it for a second responding…

"Alright, we're good."

And with that, the two made a new friend.

"Anyways I gotta get going, I have to see if there are any hotels nearby."

"Oh, I know some, here let me show you." Mikoto chirped.

* * *

**Part 2**

Stiyl Magnus and Kamijou Touma walked into the room.

This used to be the room that the ex-branch principal of Misawa Cram School, though the room was luxurious, it still lacked class.

On seeing Kamijou walk into the room, Himegami seemed to be rather shocked. However, Aureolus didn't show any reaction. He looked like he had expected that to happen.

It was like he already knew that he couldn't do anything.

To someone who could bend reality to his whims, this was to be expected.

"Obviously, I can see that you have deduced my goal," The alchemist said calmly, "If that's the case, why do you want to stop me? Out of all people, I would have thought you would have wanted to save Index."

Aureolus glanced down.

On the luxurious table lay the sleeping silver-haired girl.

Kamijou wanted to dash forward but was stopped by Stiyl.

"It's simple. This method won't be able to save that child."

"Not necessarily. That's just your envy talking. I can understand that. Though we were comrades who had the same dreams crushed, you are unhappy that I surpassed you."

Stiyl frowned.

That was because Aureolus Izzard had said it so naturally, without any hint of sarcasm.

"In the past, Index's mind was overloaded with so much information that she had to have her memory erased every year. That was to be fated, something a human body can't defy," Aureolus sternly said, "However, what if she wasn't human? What if she could borrow the attributes of a vampire?"

Stiyl narrowed his eyes, "So you plan to ask one of these vampires to teach you their technique? Even if your plan does work, what would you do if the technique cannot be used on humans?"

"Clearly If a human body can't do it, I'll move Index into one that can."

Aureolus answered without any hesitation.

"Turn her into a vampire? Tch! What Christian in the world will be happy about being a descendant of Cain? If you really want to help someone you have to take their feelings into account as well. I only recently learned that"

"...Absolutely ridiculous. Such thinking is merely fake kindness. This child once told me at the last moment that she definitely doesn't want to forget me. Even if she's willing to give up her life, she doesn't wish to forget all these memories. She told me all these with her body unable to move at all, not even realizing that she was crying...all of this while holding a smile!"

He seemed to grit his teeth.

Of course, Kamijou didn't know what he was thinking about or recalling.

Though he had a rough idea

He remembered when Index learned that she would soon have to forget all of them, he remembered how she smiled even when she thought that she was at the end.

"It seems like you don't intend to change your mind no matter what. If that's the case, though it's a little cruel, I have to use my trump card. Well, in that case, would you care to do the honors as her current partner?" Stiyl asked, glancing at Touma, "Why don't you tell this misinformed hack about the recent change in Index."

"...What?"

Aureolus finally turned to look at Kamijou.

"You don't know what you're talking about."

"?"

"That is the case. Index got saved, not by you, not by me, but by the current partner. What you couldn't achieve than was achieved by this guy," Stiyl revealed a cruel smirk and said, "But course, you couldn't have known that. You turned your back on the church and spent three years in hiding. You've pretty much been living under a rock when the important stuff happened."

"That's... impossible..."

"Yeah. I can understand that you can't believe it. Besides, even I who witnessed it couldn't believe it as well."

"Preposterous! This is impossible! How can there be a way to save Index! And besides, this guy here isn't a magician nor an alchemist. Just what can he possibly do?"

"Since it concerns the pride of the Anglican Church, I'd rather not spread the tale. So, I can only tell you this..." Stiyl exhaled the smoke cruelly and said, "The boy possesses a terrifying ability called Imagine Breaker along with something else I'm not at liberty to say ...but both of these are things that shouldn't belong to any ordinary person."

The alchemist was shocked.

He couldn't stop staring at Kamijou.

"...Hold on a minute. That means..."

"Oh, that's right. I heard you betrayed the Roman Catholic Church and hid underground for three years? It seems like all that was a waste of time. Hm, I can understand the pain of not getting anything back in return. However, this child is living a happy life with her partner as you so wished."

The decisive sentence.

The revelation was so great that he needed to lean on the desk where Index was sleeping to stay upright. However, the slight disturbance caused Index to stir in her sleep.

Index widened her eyes slightly,

"Touma?"

She tilted her head and saw him there standing near a doorway.

She smiled. She was smiling happily.

"Ah…"

Kamijou inadvertently backed away.

Not because of the smile on Index's face but because behind Index, the alchemist who was supposed to be the leading man got completely forgotten by the girl he had protected.

It was like he was the main protagonist and this side character stole the show.

He had betrayed the Roman Catholic Church, renounced his beliefs and became an alchemist, all just to save that girl in front of him.

And now it was all for nothing.

"Ugh—"

Aureolus Izzard couldn't say anything.

He smiled a frozen, twisted smile

But Aureolus turned around and glared sharply at Kamijou.

That man could sentence anyone to death with just a single sentence.

"**Slam to the ground, you intruders!**"

Immediately, Kamijou felt the weight of numerous heavy hands pushing down on him, The term "intruders" should also include Stiyl, and in the corner of his eye, the red-haired magician could be seen flattened on the floor as well.

However, he couldn't hear the sound of a third person being slammed.

"Uu... ugh..."

The feeling of almost having all the intestines flip inside made Kamijou feel like vomiting. But even so, he still tried desperately to touch himself with his right hand so he could fulfill his part of the plan.

"Ha, haha, hahaha! I won't kill you so easily! Let me enjoy this a little more!"

The alchemist pulled out a thin needle that was as slim as a hair and stabbed it through his neck

***Ding!***

Before he could utter a single word the wall beside him began to break apart as though someone had shot a Railgun thought it, pieces of debris flung themselves at the alchemist.

Before he could utter a single word, pieces of the wall shot themselves towards the man's body.

The term 'you intruders' seemed to indicate just the two he saw present.

In Aulerous mind he had completely forgotten about the third guest yet to arrive at his fortress.

The air seemed to shiver.

Two dots of ruby-red light flickered deep in the smoke.

"Die!"

The boy's hands were inches away from touching his face.

**(...)**

But right as they were about to make contact he missed.

No, space in between his hands and him were expanded.

"**You will be flung across the room!**"

Suddenly before their very eyes, Accelerator was thrown across the very room as though he were a ragdoll.

However, the moment he landed he stomped the ground and caused the very floor beneath them all to crumble before breaking completely.

As they all started falling Auleous had an unamused look in his eyes.

Suddenly they all found themselves being suspended in mid-air.

The pieces of the ground that were broken were suspended along with them before being lifted up along with everyone else.

It was like time itself was rewinding to repair all the damage that was done.

After a few seconds, the room was right back as it was before the 'forgotten one' entered.

The alchemist tilted his head at the esper.

"I never expected to see one of your kind here."

He then proceeded to casually take out another needle from his pocket before stabbing himself in the neck.

"**You will lose your ability!**"

And like that the atmosphere around the very room changed.

The esper looked at his hands as though he saw something was wrong, but before he could say a word he heard.

"**You will be pinned to the wall!**"

"Gwah!"

He seemed to bellow in pain as he was slammed back first into the wall at high speeds.

The alchemist seemed to smirk.

"I'm glad I already said the words that allowed this fortress of mine to rebuild itself if it was ever damaged."

The Alchemist seemed to laugh.

"If you were only a bit more clever! Though I have to admire your hard work, sadly your fate is the same as mine ...one with no reward."

Accelerator chuckled, "I really don't know what's like to be in second place like you, but from how the #2 acts I'm sure your feeling pretty insecure right now!"

Auleous's eyes narrowed as he said, "**Your arm will break**."

***Crack!***

"Gah!"

"Wait."

At that moment, Himegami Aisa stood between them.

She turned to the boy pinned to the wall and asked.

"Why are you here?"

In between coughs, he answered, "For….her."

She saw it in his eyes, he truly meant those words.

She turned to face the alchemist and stood her ground

"Out of the way, woman!"

From the ground, Kamijou saw the fire in the man's eyes.

He had to do it now! If he didn't then she would…

"**Die.**"

At that moment, Aureolus Izzard said that, and time seemed to stop.

There were no wounds, no bleeding, no illnesses.

Just death.

She didn't even let out a cry as she died.

She swayed about, her head tilted back as she collapsed back, but all the while she had a soft smile on her face.

Himegami Aisa had already known that she would end up like that when she blocked Aureolus.

But even so, she still held a single bit of hope and tried to stop him.

***Shatter!***

Kamijou's eyes had completely ignored the existence of the alchemist. He just ran forward at Himegami Aisa.

Right before Himegami landed on the floor, Kamijou finally managed to carry her body with both hands.

***Shatter!***

Kamijou smiled as he heard a faint but steady heartbeat in his arms.

"Wha... my Ars Magna was negated by your right hand?" The alchemist's expression froze. "Impossible. Certainly, Himegami Aisa's death was already decided. What sort of sacred power is that!?"

Kamijou didn't reply.

Kamijou definitely couldn't forgive that man in front of him.

Though he could pity him, though he could feel his feelings, it still didn't justify his actions.

Kamijou Touma would never agree with what that alchemist, no, what that human did.

"All right, Aureolus Izzard. If you think you can do anything you want..." Kamijou Touma gently placed Himegami Aisa on the floor, and then stood up.

Without holding back at all, he declared, "...then let me destroy that screwed up illusion of yours!"

Both of them were standing on the faded but extremely wide space.

Facing a man who could turn whatever he said into reality, that was truly a distance that really sent despair into people.

"..."

Even so, Kamijou stepped forward.

The battle between the esper and the alchemist began.

Kamijou charged at the man.

The distance between both of them was only about ten meters. If he dashed at full speed, he only needed a few steps.

Aureolus didn't do anything, and merely pulled out a needle and stabbed it into his neck.

"**Suffocate**."

And as he said, Kamijou began to feel all the oxygen in his lungs disappear and clutch his throat with his right hand.

However, nothing happened.

He had to stay calm, he heard that if you panic when suffocating you'd only die faster.

Opening his mouth and sticking his right hand inside, he reached in the back of his throat.

***Shatter!***

The sound of glass breaking could be heard, and Kamijou regained his breathing.

Aureolus stabbed the needle into his neck, and nonchalantly pulled it out and threw it away.

"**Be electrocuted**."

The moment the alchemist finished speaking, bluish-white sparks surround Kamijou in all directions.

Kamijou raised his right hand.

This wasn't anything new to him.

In a small way, he was actually grateful for the practice that 'she' had given him to prepare for this moment.

***Shatter!***

On the other hand, the alchemist narrowed his eyes. He again pulled out the thin hair- strand-like needle and stabbed it into his neck.

"**Be strangled and be crushed**."

In a second, numerous ropes flew out from the floor, choking Kamijou's neck hard. At the same time, a rusted car fell down from the ceiling that was waving up and down.

But Kamijou merely waived his right hand, and the ropes that were tied around his neck broke off like a paper bag that was soaked.

***Shatter!***

The rusted car turned into coarse sugar-like powder and disappeared into thin air.

Aureolus pulled out the needle on his neck and narrowed his eyes on the boy.

"I see. Truthfully that right hand can even dispel my Ars Magna without exception."

But the alchemist's words didn't seem to lose any confidence, and Kamijou started to feel confused.

"However, for sure; that would mean that no negation effect would occur as long as it doesn't come into contact with your right hand, hm?"

"!?"

"**Form a pistol in my hand. Load with magic bullets. The application is firing. One will suffice**"

As Aureolus gently waved his hand, an old-fashioned pistol appeared in his hands, it was like the ones that they used to duel with back when that sort of thing was still acceptable.

"**Begin to fire at a speed that surpasses human motion recognition**."

The next moment, Kamijou felt that something just brushed past his face. After that, bluish-white bullets hit the wall behind him and exploded.

"Did you think I'd let you die so easily?" the alchemist taunted, "I want to see you squirm a bit longer."

The alchemist seemed to have a smug expression painted on his face as he stabbed another needle in his neck.

"**Mass produce the previous process. Simulate firing with ten hidden rifles.**"

After saying that, ten muskets appeared on Aureolus' hands, five on each side.

If those guns were fired then Kamijou would definitely be unable to escape.

(I gotta run!)

"**Preparations complete. Ten hidden rifles: fire simultaneously**."

After Aureolus gave the command, ten blazing bluish-white bullets hit Kamijou.

"Argh!"

Kamijou flew back, bouncing on the floor like some ragdoll and finally crashed into something before stopping.

Luckily, the magic bullets weren't fatal. Though blood still dripped out in the areas where they did strike.

Though his body and bones were in such deep pain that it felt like they were broken, there weren't any parts that were immobile.

Aureolus seemed to be rather happy with that outcome and raised a pistol towards Kamijou.

"...Tch! What kind of joke is that? You seem like you really can distort reality with your words."

But before Aureolus could say anything, Stiyl cut him off.

Having his attention diverted, the alchemist turned to look at Stiyl.

"Obviously," Aureolus boasted, "Ars Magna is the strongest power an alchemist can possess. I can do anything."

Stiyl said and gave a look at Kamijou.

He nodded. He was being the distraction.

Since he still had to speak to warp reality every moment he was distracted was a blessing.

"So how were you able to accomplice that? The chant for the spell should normally take years to complete?"

"It's the Gregorian Chant. By manipulating two thousand people to make them chant it at the same time, the speed of chanting it will be at least two thousand times faster."

Stiyl frowned.

"In fact, I thought that there would be a multiplying effect in the spell that would cause it to drastically increase. But I only managed to increase it by 120 times, so it wasn't really successful."

Kamijou slowly inched closer to the Alchemist.

If he could get him within striking distance, he could attack him anytime without having to worry about his words.

"120 times... you finished it in only half a day? But this is a school of espers. If these people with different body structures use the Gregorian Chant, they should have exploded and died!"

Stiyl no longer sounded like he was acting around.

Kamijou continued to inch forward. He rummaged through his pockets trying to find something he could use as a weapon and felt something.

3 seconds.

If he could be distracted for that amount of time, he could close the distance and finish this.

"Why, can't you notice it?" Aureolus' tilted his head and said, "Can't I just repair spoiled items? Just like a collapsed building. It's not like they were real or anything?"

For a moment, they stopped and stared at Aureolus.

Aureolus nonchalantly said, "Ah, didn't I tell you? Today is not the first time those students died."

"Bastard—"

Kamijou's thoughts blanked due to anger.

The #1, on the other hand, saw something that he never expected to see.

A reflection.

"That's right. I'm not so stupid as not to realize my own sins. That's right, I brought failure onto myself. But even so, I had a dream that I wanted to accomplish and no matter how many had to die so I could fulfill that dream it was worth it if I achieved the results I was hoping for. However, in the end, I ended up with this unexpected outcome."

It was as if he was starring in a mirror.

Aureolus pulled out the needle and glared at Kamijou for daring to speak out of turn.

Before Aureolus' gave the order, Kamijou grabbed the hard thing in his pocket.

But before Aureolus could speak, Kamijou already grabbed the phone in his pocket and threw it at Aureolus.

"...Wha?"

For a moment, Aureolus was truly stunned.

A cheap cell phone couldn't beat an Alchemist.

"...**Abort the throw, turn it into a meaningless thrown pebble!**"

In that short time, Kamijou closed in.

If he could land this punch then he could turn the tide in their favor.

"**Bring a pistol to my hand. Usage is shooting. Finish according to the preparations!**"

Aureolus released the ten musket swords.

Kamijou's tense face was twitching. Just as Aureolus was about to say that crucial word...

"**Innocentius**!"

Stiyl's roar stopped Aureolus.

Kamijou was stunned and turned to Stiyl.

(A bluff!?)

No, it wasn't' just a bluff It was a bluff that was meant to extend Kamijou's life slightly.

Aureolus's fire-like eyes turned to glare at Stiyl.

"**Into the sky, Priest from London**."

Aureolus said softly as if it was a preparation for execution.

The moment he had finished saying that, Stiyl's body floated into the air like it lost gravity until it reached near the ceiling.

"You idiot! It's too easy for you to beat Aureolus! That guy's weakness is the needle!"

Aureolus glared at Stiyl with razor-sharp eyes.

"**Your skin will explode from your body, magician**."

As Aureolus had commanded, Stiyl's body expanded like a balloon. Then, it quickly exploded from within. His blood and flesh were scattered all over.

"...!"

The most terrifying thing was that the blood vessels were still intact, and the heart wasn't damaged. It looked just like a train map, as his naked heart sent out blood through the long blood vessels back into his heart again.

The sight was so disgusting, Touma had to hold back the vomit attempting to escape his throat. And Index who had just regained consciousness fainted at the sight.

Though one thing was apparent.

He wasn't dead yet.

Even though he became like that, the man Stiyl Magnus was still alive.

Trying to collect himself he tried to remember what Stiyl had said.

(Needles?)

"His powers aren't-!"

The Alchemist turned to the #1 and uttered the words

"**Suffocate**"

And as he said, he began to lose all the oxygen in his lungs.

Kamijou couldn't hope to rush all the way back to hit him if he did then they would all certainly meet a swift end.

No, he had to figure out what they meant.

—_That guy's weakness is the needle!_

—_His powers aren't-_

That's when Kamijou realized it.

If he could really do anything he wanted, why couldn't he just give an even simpler command to Kamijou like "the ability of his hands will disappear?

If he could really do anything he wants, why did he need vampires or Deep Blood? If he could really create anything, why couldn't he create vampires?

If he could do anything why didn't he just look at Index and say 'You will remember me'?

That's when he realized that Aureolus Izzard's almighty Ars Magna didn't change reality through his words, but through his thoughts.

No wonder Stiyl once said that it was too easy for him to beat Aureolus.

Aureolus understood the power of the Magic side, Stiyl, Index, and Himegami were all familiar with Aureolus, so Aureolus understood those people's power, and they couldn't beat him.

Since Aureolus stayed in Academy City he should've at least knew that the part of the brain needed for Espers to use their ability was the front.

But Kamijou was the only exception. They had just met today, and he didn't know how strong that stranger was or what mysterious powers he had.

The one time he was nervous was when he first saw him negate his ability.

"I get it, so it's like that..."

Kamijou blankly muttered.

However...

"Hmph, it seems that the source of your confidence is that mysterious right hand of yours."

Aureolus nonchalantly stared at the spaced-out Kamijou and pulled out another needle.

He stabbed it into his neck, and said, "If that's the case, I'll start by cutting off your right hand. **Hidden rifle, rotate-fire your blade!**"

There was no sound at all.

The moment Aureolus swung the right hand, the musket sword spun and attacked Kamijou at a terrifying speed like a rotating electric fan blade.

One moment later, it severed Kamijou's arm and stabbed into the wall behind. It felt like a heated knife that sliced through butter, as Kamijou's right arm was just sliced neatly down the shoulder.

There was no pain, and he didn't even feel hot. Kamijou just blankly stared at the right arm that got sliced off.

(My right hand's been sliced off?)

He felt no pain

(An nigh-omnipotent person who can crush my heart with a single sentence...chose to slice off my right hand? He's definitely someone who can do anything he wants..yet he can't do anything to the power of my right hand?)

After a while, fresh blood finally gushed out of the sliced off part.

Before he knew it, Kamijou seemed to hear something flip in his mind.

* * *

The atmosphere changed.

There was no longer a cold presence.

The sensation of despair slowly filled the room.

The cause of this was simple...

"Ha... ha... hahahahahahahahahhahahahhahahahahhahahahahahahahahahahahaha!"

For a moment, facing that completely unexpected response, Aureolus inadvertently backed away.

His spine trembled as he began to feel something inhuman start to ooze out

The boy who had his right arm sliced off was actually laughing.

Aureolus decided to kill him, and thus he impatiently threw away the needle on the neck and said, "**Hidden rifle to appear in my hand, load with magic bullets. One will be enough**."

Aureolus squeezed the trigger.

The bullet shot out at a speed no human could dodge.

But nothing happened.

"What...?"

Aureolus again commanded, "**Repeat the previous command. Usage is strafe firing. Simultaneously fire ten hidden rifles**!"

The ten hidden rifles that appeared out of thin air fired out bullets like a bouquet of flowers.

However...

What should be an accurate hit of ten magic bullets, all missed.

Aureolus was stunned as he stared at the boy who had escaped death twice. The boy's shoulder was bleeding, an unbelievable amount of fresh blood was gushing out from the sliced off area.

The blood splattered on the boy's face, covering it with blood. But the boy didn't do anything except smile.

The boy seemed to be laughing from deep within, and he stuck his tongue out to lick the

blood on his lips like it was a sauce.

(What is that guy!?)

Thus, Aureolus couldn't stop the anxiety from forming within him.

(What on earth is this guy?! This guy will die just from the intense blood loss! It's alright, there's no problem! There should be no problem! There should be no problem. But!?)

The boy had lost his right hand, and by right, should have lost all his powers. That pitiful image of him seemed to be muttering something. He was sneering, staring at the alchemist and laughing.

"Damn you... You can't live under the watch of my Ars Magna! **Deploy a countless number of guillotine blades and quickly dismantle that body!**"

The moment he finished speaking, numerous huge guillotines appeared on the ceiling above the boy's head like the cracking of the surface.

All the while the boy never stopped laughing…

(This time, they'll hit.)

However, as soon as they made contact, the guillotine blades broke and scattered into very small pieces as if they were crafted with dust.

The boy laughed.

The boy was still laughing. His expression seemed to be stating that the fight was over.

The alchemist had no hesitation as he glared at Kamijou like he wanted to pierce him

through.

"**Die, immediately b**—"

—But before his roar stopped, doubt crept into his mind.

(Can I really kill him with just that word?)

Using trembling hands, he tried to pull out the needle, but he caused the numerous thin needles to drop onto the floor.

Aureolus Izzard was trembling as he stared at Kamijou. The once sharp look was now gone. Unbelievably, both legs weren't following his command as they backed away.

Ars Magna could make any wish become a reality.

Though at that moment, he realized that this was something that couldn't be wished away.

Aureolus Izzard lost control of his verbal ability. His throat seemed to close on him as he couldn't think clearly anymore.

(Shit, where's my needles? Why did they land on the floor!? Without that—)

Shocked, Aureolus held his breath.

The more he thought of running away, the more his thoughts sank.

The boy in front of him didn't say anything.

He didn't say anything as he silently stalked towards Aureolus.

All the while holding that sickening grin covered in his own blood.

Such an act made Aureolus even more anxious.

He couldn't stop that boy, he didn't know what to do in order to stop the boy.

As the sounds of the steps came closer, he found himself face to face with that...thing

"Hey!"

He suddenly heard the boy's voice. Aureolus looked like a child trembling.

"You didn't think that you could get rid of my Imagine Breaker just by slicing off my right hand, did ya!?"

He bared his fangs, and his eyes seemed to have a reddish glow.

Aureolus could only pray, but he still couldn't stop his thoughts.

Immediately...

An abnormal change seemed to appear on the sliced off part on Kamijou's right shoulder that was spurting out blood like a fountain.

The blood flow started to increase, and it looked like a transparent glass statue had fresh blood spilled all over it, as an unbelievable object started to shape itself.

What rushed out from the severed part on Kamijou's right arm wasn't a human arm.

It was a savage-looking two-meter-large head that could only be seen in ancient legend—the head of a huge and Almighty Dragon.

The dragon head that should be transparent was dyed with blood. The boy raised it and swung it, and slowly opened the chin that had a row of saw-like teeth on it.

Blood danced around the air as the Dragon bared its teeth as if to mimic its master.

Just like that, Aureolus' vision started to fade due to fear.

It might have been how the pale moonlight reflected off his crimson blood.

It might have been how his sicking smile oozed out despair.

But at that moment,

In the eyes of Aureolus, Kamijou Touma truly looked like the devil.

"You wanted to see it right? Why don't I show you what it can really do!?"

The jaw of the Dragon King widened to the maximum and let out an ear-piercing screech.

.̷̨̨̗̟͙̖̙͕̱̪̹͇̰̯͉͒͛͝.̴̛̝̉̄̿̎͂.̶̛̗̭̳̗̠̲̰̦̺͈̝̣̣̉̋͆̾͜͝͝ .̷̨̨̗̟͙̖̙͕̱̪̹͇̰̯͉͒͛͝.̴̛̝̉̄̿̎͂.̶̛̗̭̳̗̠̲̰̦̺͈̝̣̣̉̋͆̾͜͝͝ .̷̨̨̗̟͙̖̙͕̱̪̹͇̰̯͉͒͛͝.̴̛̝̉̄̿̎͂.̶̛̗̭̳̗̠̲̰̦̺͈̝̣̣̉̋͆̾͜͝͝

.

.

The moment that all hope faded from his heart and despair replaced it, was when the Dragon King swallowed the Alchemist whole.

* * *

**August 9**

"I think this every single time but you have a comparatively fantasy-like body, you know?"

In a customized maroon-colored hospital room, the middle-aged looking doctor who looked like a frog said that to Kamijou.

"..."

Kamijou didn't know what to say as he could only lie on the bed, lowering his head as he looked at the arm that was held in plaster.

"On another note, you've been hospitalized twice within ten days, and naturally, you became a topic for discussion among the nurses. Don't tell me you have a nurse fetish?"

"Gah!? What the hell? If I really had a thing for nurses there're are a lot of easier ways to get admitted than having my arm sliced off!"

"Really? Pity, I thought I finally found a compatriot."

Kamijou shook his head at the doctor.

Had he really just become a doctor to ogle at the nurses?

If that were the case, he really wanted to change doctors. But he knew that if he did that it would just lead him down a slew of other problems.

One of which is his survival rate.

"By the way what happened to the other person with me?"

"Oh, your friend is fine. He simply fell unconscious due to a lack of oxygen. Though with how rare an injury is for his body something like that could be serious, He should be waking up any minute though."

Kamijou sighed in relief.

"Say how much time do you think I have before she…..and you already left…"

Kamijou shook his head.

He chuckled nervously as he realized how badly he messed up.

He removed 'her' from his emergency contacts list during his last stay at the hospital after all the trouble it got him into and forgot to put it back in.

To add insult to injury he didn't have his phone anymore since it was transfigured into an actual pebble.

Immediately after the doctor left, another person walked in.

Stiyl Magnus

"Though I don't want to get close to you or be friends with you at all, I came here out of courtesy."

"Okay…." he deadpanned

"I actually wanted to more or less thank you this time for ... but thinking about it, there's no need for that. What you did was basically just to let Aureolus self-destruct."

"Hmph, you should be thanking this Kamijou Touma's perfect acting skills!"

Yes, in order to defeat the almighty Alchemist Kamijou acted! And he gave the performance of a lifetime!

Though having his arm cut off did send him into shock and then into a state of mild ecstasy due to the heavy blood loss which explained why he couldn't stop smiling.

"Speaking of which, it's really unbelievable that we were able to survive. I got my arm cut off, you had your flesh ripped off. It feels like we should start to appreciate the value of life... Hey, why do you look like you're about to laugh!?"

Stiyl smirked.

"It's nothing it's just amusing watching you believe that you did that all by yourself."

"What?"

Stiyl casually said, "I used my magic to create an optical illusion so his first two shots would miss. After that, the Alchemist brought about his own undoing."

Kamijou blankly stared at Stiyl's Magnus's face.

"How?"

"You don't have to worry about that. Though I suppose you should know the sin you committed in this incident, right?"

Kamijou turned to look at the right hand covered in plaster that had once housed a dragon's jaw.

"Yeah, I wanted to talk to you about that. I kind of blacked out halfway through due to the blood loss, was it bad?"

"..."

"..."

"***Sigh***, No need to show such an expression. What Aureolus imagined was a mental image of a Dragon King, not a physical one."

"?"

"It simply means that you didn't harm Aureolus physically but his spirit was broken."

"I don't know what that means."

"It doesn't matter. In the end, we wiped away all of Aureolus's memories. Though I wouldn't exactly call this a happy ending. All the members of the thirteen Knights died."

Kamijou wore a sad expression.

"I guess it was too much to wish for a happy ending for them, though there is a silver lining. That friend of yours doesn't have to watch his back anymore since there are no witnesses that saw him get involved with the magic side."

"What do you mean?"

Stiyl stared stiffly at him, "Him getting involved in something of that scale could've brought about a war. Though like I said since there are no witnesses it never happened."

"...Damn ...Wait, what happened to the memory-less Aureolus Izzard?"

"Oh, is there a need to mention it? I killed him."

He said so matter-of-factly that Kamijou suspected whether he had heard it incorrectly.

"What's with the expression? Listen. Since he lost his memories, he was in no condition to protect himself from the numerous organizations that would hunt him down. In the end, Aureolus Izzard had two choices. Death or an endless hell. If it was me, I would have gone with the former"

However, Kamijou still couldn't accept it.

"I still can't accept it. I still can't. Even if this is the only path left, we can't just treat taking away someone's life as a good thing."

"That's why I said that you're too naïve." Stiyl Magnus looked away and said in a calm tone, "When I said that I killed him, I didn't necessarily mean that I took his life away, right?"

Stunned, Kamijou stared at Stiyl's face.

"...I simply used my magic to change his face. Since he has no memories, Aureolus Izzard is effectively dead."

"...Are you actually a good guy?"

"Shut up! I'm a fire magician, it's not hard for me to burn the face and treat it to make another face."

"...You're really a great guy!"

"Hm? I'm really surprised by that response... What the hell!? Why are you suddenly hugging me!? Stop standing on your tiptoes and trying to forcibly stroke my head!"

Just as Kamijou and Stiyl were tugging at each other in the room, the hospital room door opened, and Index walked in without knocking.

"...Eh?"

Index stopped.

She saw the struggling magician and the truly touched Kamijou Touma as he tried to touch the magician's head.

All three of them froze.

The world stopped.

"...Touma…..Sorry for interrupting you."

"Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait! You got the wrong idea!"

Stiyl Magnus watched the two of them as the boy struggled to grab Index with his one good hand.

"Well, the next mission awaits me. I should be off now."

Stiyl spoke with a bored voice but showed a somewhat satisfied face.

Index again stared at Stiyl's face and frantically hid behind Kamijou's back.

"Erm."

Just as Stiyl was about to step out of the room, Index spoke up.

Stiyl turned, expecting to find Index angry at him for dragging her friends into the hell that was Misawa Cram School.

"For the time being, I'll say this. Thank you."

She thanked him.

"If you weren't there I'm sure Touma and Yuki would've got really hurt and...are you okay?"

"It's nothing."

Stiyl chuckled as he said that.

Then, without saying anything again, Stiyl turned his back and silently walked out.

Kamijou felt like he just saw Stiyl truly smile for the first time.

Under his breath, Kamijou muttered.

"Tsundere."

* * *

**Accelerator's Hospital Room**

"So you're saying the only reason I lost was because that dumbass never read a textbook that mentioned Vectors?"

In the pure white hospital room, A spiky-haired boy nodded to Accelerator.

"That's bullshit."

"Well most things revolving me usually is."

"Never knew Gemstones were such a hax. It makes me wonder what the hell else is out there."

Kamijou sighed, during this entire outing he still thought that what he was fighting was just another Gemstone.

He wanted to tell him the truth, but at the same time, he didn't want to bother him.

"Come to think of it, the #6 and #7 are both Gemstones, right? Just what the hell are you guys?"

Kamijou shrugged.

He turned his head back up to the ceiling.

Though they had won in the end, Accelerator had still lost against someone who was also striving for absolution.

"Hey, how'd you figure out his powers didn't work by speaking?"

"That's easy. I was a millimeter from ending the guy and I missed. I was close enough that I removed all the oxygen around us so he couldn't actually physically speak. So when he just motioned his lips and something happened, I realized that it wasn't **Vocifery** but **Mentifery**."

"That was pretty smart."

He rolled his eyes at that obvious statement.

"Hey what's the last thing you remember seeing? Before you passed out, I mean?"

Accelerator sighed.

Thinking back to it he didn't remember seeing anything after he uttered those words.

The only thing he did remember wasn't sight, but a feeling.

A cold and empty feeling in the room.

"Just you getting that arm cut off. I'm still wondering how they put it back on so cleanly, I mean I've heard of people having their fingers chopped on and then stitched back on, but an entire arm."

Kamijou clutched his cast.

"I...I guess, the doc really is just that good."

Just as was going to ask further question him, the hospital room door opened, and Index walked in without knocking.

"Touma! They're selling honeydew-flavored chips at the shops! It's so interesting, I wanna buy it! But I don't have money!"

He suspected he was hiding something but let it go. He could always just ask him later and he wasn't innocent in not hiding things either.

"Index, is not knocking like your thing now!?"

"Eh? But, Touma, Ruiko has my card and she's-"

Index felt a hand clutch her shoulder hard, she turned around to find Saten with a cold look in her eyes.

"Eh? Ruiko how did-Gwah!?"

Suddenly Index felt her cheeks being pulled.

"Gwhah Tooumaa, Yuuwki Hwelp!"

Accelerator smirked at the sight.

Kamijou covered his face with his hand as if to pretend he didn't see anything.

"IInnndddeeexx! Who do you think you are to just up and run away like that, huh!? What, did they forget to teach you manners in the nunnery!? Did you know how much you made me worry!?"

"I'm Sowwry!"

After another few seconds of tugging, Saten finally released Index.

She turned around and it looked as though she wiped something away from her eyes.

"***Sniff*** Good. Next time don't just run out on your own, got it."

Index nodded as she rubbed her now red cheeks.

"I'm glad to see you guys are okay, what exactly happened?"

Accelerator went to speak but was interrupted.

"Hey Saten, how'd you know we were in the hospital?"

She tilted her head and looked over to the #1

"He called me when he woke up to tell me he found Index and to pick her up from the hospital."

Touma paled for a moment.

"Did you happen to tell anyone else that we were here?"

Saten nodded.

Touma exchanged a quick nod to Index and ran off.

"What the hell is he running from."

Index still rubbing her cheeks, smiled as sweetly as the Virgin Mary as she said.

"**The inevitable**."

* * *

Touma raced across the hall.

He had to get to the nearest phone so he could call a certain someone.

If they found out someone else visited him before they even heard about the incident there would be hell to pay.

Though thinking back to it now he realized something.

Both Saten and Yuki must have had a phone on them since they called each other to inform the other of the sudden turn of events.

If that was the case…

"(Why the hell didn't I just ask to borrow one of their phones!?)"

Before he could make a U-turn in the halls, he heard it.

A voice calling out to him from his hospital room.

"YOU IDIOT!"

"Such misfortune!"

* * *

Misaka tapped her foot on the ground impatiently waiting for an explanation.

Once Saten called her to inform her that Touma was in the hospital once again due to the actions of last night she was annoyed, to say the least.

She told him that her presence there would have handled the solution better and he didn't listen and as a result, he had ended up in the hospital once again.

After arriving at his hospital room however, she saw that it was empty.

For a moment she thought that he was actually dumb enough to leave the hospital after getting injured either out of stubbornness or out of being cheap.

Once she saw him in the hallway she called out to him, and as a response, he started running in the other direction.

Since she couldn't use her powers in the hospital, she gave chase.

It didn't take too long to catch him after that.

"Well…."

"So…..how you doing, Misaka-san?"

***Biri Biri***

The stray spark only landed mere feet away from actually hitting him.

The chase had ended once they both got to the roof.

In hindsight, he should've gone down.

"Okay! I'll get right to it then!"

After explaining to her that he got his arm chopped off trying to stop the rogue Alchemist the look of contempt from her was replaced with one of concern.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

Touma smiled as he nodded.

He had edited out all the hellish parts from his explanation. He didn't want to see her have to imagine the horrors that went on in that Cram School.

She lightly punched him in his one good arm.

"Good, idiot I told you, I could've helped!"

Touma continued to smile as he rubbed his arm.

He couldn't have any of them know what an actual nightmare that place was. He explained it away to Index by saying it was a bad dream. Since she fainted within a second it wasn't particularly hard to do.

"Hey, I did call you though."

Misaka sighed.

"I was going to try and find you, but something important came up so, Aihana and I spent most of the night with that. After that I had to get her to a hotel for the night since her...do you call a facility a dorm, anyways because her curfew passed"

Touma sighed in relief, "So you and Aihana are finally friends?"

"Why are you saying it like that? It's not like we were enemies or something, we just got on the wrong foot, that's all."

Touma shrugged. "In any case, let's go back inside. It's hot out here and I can feel my cast beinging too burn."

Just as Kamijou walked passed her, she spoke up once again.

"You're hiding something aren't you, about what happened last night."

Kamijou froze.

"...Was it that bad?"

Frozen in place, he could only stare at the door that he had been heading towards.

"..."

Misaka let her gaze fall down.

"You don't have to keep this all bottled up, you know? I already know one of your secrets another one won't hurt."

"...You're not gonna let this go, are you?"

"No…."

* * *

She stared.

After he finished telling her the story she stared.

She didn't make any snide comments, she didn't say that she could've done better she just stared.

Her eyes were wide as she stared at him, he just described the hell he went through.

"...So, are you okay? I mean after all of that I mean ...wow….."

Touma shrugged, "To be honest, I am. I mean when I forgot everything I was already pretty calm. So, when I suddenly remembered everything, I don't know, it didn't feel real so I don't think I'm that bothered by it. It was like I was watching a first-person movie or something."

Misaka frowned at his response.

"Can I ask you something, why did you decide to go back in there even after everything you said happened in there?"

Touma smiled, "Index and Himegami were still in there. I couldn't leave them behind. Besides I had other people with me so it-"

"That's another thing. If no one else was there...would you have still gone in?"

Without any hesitation, he answered, "Yes."

"Don't you have any sense of self-preservation?"

Touma looked up at the bright morning sky.

"I don't want to die, but I also can't stop myself from running headfirst into danger. I know it might sound counter-intuitive, but I can't find any real reason why not to help someone who needs it."

Misaka nudged him with her elbow, "Quit trying to act cool."

"Quit hitting the guy still in the hospital, geez!"

As the two were about to walk out the door she said something to him.

"Just remember, your life is valuable...to a lot of people ...more than you know."

"Huh?"

When turned his head her face was a bright shade of red.

"Misaka, are you okay?"

"Y-Yeah...Ahem! What happened to calling me by my first name?"

"Oh! Misaki said that girls didn't like that-"

She clicked her tongue. "Look I-I don't mind if y-you call me…."

Touma shrugged, "Okay, Mikoto it is."

She smiled softly.

"Let's get out of here. I know something that'll get your mind off all that Cram school business."

"Huh? Wait don't drag me by my cast!"

* * *

**Epilogue**

"Why do I feel like I'm forgetting something?"

Index tilted her head, "I dunno." She exchanged a quick glance at Sphinx, "Do you know if we're forgetting anything?"

Meow…

Index nodded, "I see…"

Accelerator lifted his head up slightly, "Do...do actually understand it?"

Meow….

"Sphinx you shouldn't say that about Yuki!"

"Now I think you're just fucking with me."

Meow….

"Oh your right Sphinx, Ruiko is gonna have a really bad time."

The #1 sat up straight in his bed and eyed the girl, "I know I'm going to regret this…..but what the hell did it say?"

Index turned to him and said, "Misaki's here."

* * *

Saten sighed as she finally bought Index her honeydew-flavored chips.

Knowing her, if she let her go get them she'd buy more than just the bag.

(Hmm. Maybe I should get something for Kamijou and Yuki-san)

Before she knew it, she felt a tap on her shoulder.

When she turned around, she saw her.

She had long and flowing honey-blonde hair and curvy proportions that could charm anyone regardless of sex or age.

"Pardon me. We haven't properly met before, have we~"

She had a soft smile.

"My name is Shokuhou Misaki, it's a pleasure to meet you✩"

* * *

**Author's Notes**

**Finally, Deep Blood is over!**

**The next chapter will be a prologue for the long-awaited Sister's Arc!**

**By the way for those of you wondering what Misaki has been up to...find out in the next Arc!**


	32. Chapter 32 A Certain Entrance:5

**Hey, thanks for reading a Certain Scientific Counter. Thank you for everyone who left a review and I'd like to thank my Beta-Reader Graeskog for helping me edit this chapter. So here we are in the prologue to the Sister's Arc. School has started so this Arc is gonna be especially long for me but, don't worry I'll try my best to update every week or so. Thank you for sticking by me and without further ado Q&A,**

**D N Works- Yeah, reality warpers are a fickle thing. Vector transformation is still one of my favorite powers. And you'll see...**

**BlueJack22- That was just Index's interpretation of the situation. She pictures Misaki as someone who would be upset at Saten for scolding her.**

**Fortitude501- It was because I had this written ahead of time. I just had to put the finishing touches on it before posting it though chapters from here on out are gonna be from scratch until I get more free time. Himegami? Who's that? Oh, do you mean the person who was in the room the whole time but was never mentioned to anyone because I forgot to write her in? Don't worry about her, she's gonna have an Arc about her in the far future.**

**Anti-Mage 29- You think that but in all honesty he still gonna have a hard time buying that the Sisters are real people. I mean even canonically, Accelerator didn't want to fight the Sisters so he would try to scare them off so it wasn't like that thought never occurred to him. No, he'll still need something else before accepting it...I wonder what that is?**

**nameless- There's a good reason for that. I was gonna have her be the first person but then I reread a chapter in the Railgun Manga and saw something in Chapter 90. Canaonitacly, Misaki is a type of grief counselor who specializes in talking with people like this. Yeah after I read that I was like, there wouldn't be a real conflict if she's actually a professional in that area of trauma so I picked someone who would actually suck, Misaka. Also...when did she not feel resentment towards Misaka? I mean, I made it clear that these people actually couldn't stand the other in Chapter 9. And it was forced because Misaka wasn't gonna let him leave if he didn't tell her, she kinda strongarmed her way into the situation something that you really shouldn't do to people with trauma. So the only reason I didn't have Touma talk to Misaki was that she would legitimately be too better of an option because she is an actual grief counselor. And Touma's the type to bottle everything in so if she was there she would immediately be able to tell something was off and talk to him about it. They are gonna talk about it later though since in all honesty, he does have some serious problems that need addressing and who better to help him that Mental Out (AKA GF). And yes an analysis of the "heroes". And Touma does know more about IB, it negates things...and apparently has a dragon...To be honest Touma doesn't really care about it all that much even in the novel he's 'les a fair' about the whole thing. And it wouldn't be Index without a Tsundere Priest. Fun fact younger actually had a book of dirty pick-up lines, though we're not gonna see that for a while. And yes Touma's Left-hand does have a proper name and a proper backstory. I like your name for it though. Thank you for the comment!**

**Aminadab Brulle- Ah yes Yuki the boy who talked trash and had his arm broken for it. And Touma didn't use his left hand for a reason that will be addressed in another chapter. And Mikoto did not let Touma be, she basically forced him to talk about it and took him somewhere to get his mind off things. And the Dragon King...Things would've gone a lot differently if Touma actually used his left hand. And yes Misaki chapter.**

**tsun- Nah, Misaki is getting her own spotlight in this Arc. Things are starting to pick up for the honey blonde Queen. And unfairness, you should read the light Novels for this girl, she's basically bullied by the author. And there is a reason why she wasn't there first, something that she had to do that made it so she let Touma go fight vampires with no argument. And I said it before, she was in the hospital room the whole time but I forgot to write the line that said she was there. It seems as though her powers can attract vampires and repel people's attention. And yeah she's a Gemstone.**

**Lone Sheep in mall- Don't worry it's not like bad things happen in Academy City, right?**

**Generation Zero- Yeah but comparing Kanzaki and Stiyl to Auleuos a reality warper isn't a fair comparison. One can slice a through a building while the other can bend literal reality with his words. Given the fact he didn't get Stiyled, I'd say he did a job. And yes he did gain a lot from this. As they say 'You learn more through defeat than you ever do through victory' And yeah, I wonder how the Sisters Arc will play out. And yeah I'll be getting into Gemstones in another Arc. Their full potential is actually quite amazing if you think about it. In the Light Novel, Ollerous at his strongest said that if Sogiita actually knew how to use his powers properly then he would've won against him. And we will see what she has been up to. Thank you for the comment!**

**Chris- Yes the friendship between two childish people has finally come. Now the 1/2 of the fundamental forces of the universe are at their disposal. And you would be correct. And yeah Aulerous plays with cheat codes... And yeah Touma keeping a level head does make him interesting, he fights against people who would normally one-shot him through clever tactics and strategies. And Yuki got the reality smacked out of him in this fight. Both Yuki and he wanted the same thing for similar reasons, Yuki to have a normal life and Aulerous to save Index. And Aulerous made fluffy come out to play...Just be glad he didn't go for the left. And Tsundere priest is Tsundere. Like your fan theory. And she was only one push away. And Index can speak cat so long as it's funny. And what does out favorite Mental Out have instore for our Urban Legend Specialist, Find out Below! Once again thank you for the review!**

**Sergio644- He should've but didn't for reasons. And Touma doesn't know Misaka has feelings for him, out of everyone in the series he has the lowest view on himself. He thinks it was a miracle that he actually got a girlfriend. I'm glad you like how Accel was implemented and yeah Index and Stiyl development. Thank you for the comment!**

**RoachVit- I have been but it's not perfect. Besides, I usually leave the earlier chapters alone for the most part only correcting major mistakes since it shows me how far I've come since then. It's my first Fanfic so mistakes are to be expected. Thank you for the comment though and I'll try to keep the mistakes to a minimum for future chapters.**

**KRKing- Glad you like it. And yes Mikoto almost clashed with a Saint but was saved because of Index. And don't worry about that. And yeah some interaction between Touma and Accelerator. And as for the omake, would you believe some random guy who says that this anime eyed girl is his girlfriend? Still, Touma does have a right to be pissed off at him for doubting him.**

**KRKing- Yes another interaction between those two. And it's never a good idea to run away from the authorities. And Touma helps relieve some of Kiyama-sensei's burdens by shattering those pesky illusions. Stiyl and Kanzaki are here!? And Accelerator just showed up! Such Misfortune! And Kumokawa dissing shrine maiden girl like that is cold.**

**KRKing- And yes twas an epic fight indeed. Touma and Accel team up to take down the Magicians! And Touma survives the Saint only to face off against the queen. Such Misfortune! And the true science vs magic! Thank you!**

**KRKing- Yes lovey-dovey. ANd Kuroko has a secret file...not suspicious at all. Ice cream! And Kumokoawa planing!? And the Index arc is almost done! Shokugeki no Touma!**

**KRKing- The interactions between Science and Magic! Nayuta vs Mikoto! And Sogiita's Guts! ANd Uiharu is her own Justice! Thank you for the comments!**

**RoachVit- I do have one now.**

* * *

**Prologue**

** A Certain Entrance**

**#5**

**Part 1**

**A Certain Hospital**

"Good grief, what the hell am I doing?"

"Yuki, don't steal other people's lines!" The young nun scolded the #1,

The two had heard from Saten that the children who were recently saved from comas were staying in this hospital as well.

As a result, Index wanted to say hello, but given the fact that she was recently on a missing child's report the day prior the #1 thought it best that she didn't go alone, he would've let 'him' deal with it, but for some reason or another, he left the hospital grounds like a runaway.

"Yuki! Is that the door!? I think that's the door! Ruiko said the door had those numbers on it so it must be this one! See 1203! Wait, what if Ruiko got it wrong!? What should we do!? I don't want to walk into something I can't unsee again!"

She remembered as she walked in on Touma and the Fire Magician embrace as Touma tried desperately to pet his head.

The #1 clutched his head, "What the hell are you talking about? That has her name on it see!"

He reached for the door handle and slid the door open. "See nothing ...what the hell?"

"Oh, hi Yuki-san!"

The #1 starred as he watched the girl who wore a flower headband float in the air as though she was a balloon.

He turned his head and saw that same Shut-in he saw a few days ago float around while laying on what seemed to be a body pillow. It seemed as though she was trying to mimic 'King'.

"Why?"

Aihana stared at him a said, "Because I can."

The other two girls in the room didn't seem to mind that the girls were floating in the air, defying the laws of gravity itself, the only expressions they wore on their faces was of astonishment, except for the one twin-tailed girl who seemed annoyed at the whole situation.

"Honestly, Uiharu you just met this girl a few minutes ago and you were more than comfortable allowing her to manipulate your gravity?"

The flower headband girl smiled, "Oh Shirai-san, you don't have to be jealous, you can ask Aihana-san to make you float too."

The Twin tailed girl jumped out of her seat and tried grabbing for the girl but couldn't seem to get her, "I'm not jealous! Having her around makes it so I can't use my powers! So why would I intentionally let her do something that could cripple my powers for life!"

Aihana twirled her hair, "I know what I'm doing. Besides, even if I do forget to fix your personal gravity the effects are only temporary, I can only distort people's personal gravity so after a while it should reset back to normal."

"How long does that take?"

"I don't know."

"THAT'S WHY I DON'T WANT TO DO IT!"

"Boo~"

The twin-tailed girl glared daggers at the #6 before noticing that someone else had entered the room as well.

"Oh? Index-san, who might this be?"

Snapping Index out of her trance-like state from staring at the girls floating, she answered, "This is Yuki!"

Edasaki's eyes lit up, "So you're the boy who helped save me and my classmates?"

The #1 didn't respond so much as look away but that was enough for her to understand.

"I don't know if you saw the message we played so, thank you!"

He groaned, "Oh I saw it."

Edasaki smiled.

Aihana motioned her body pillow to face the boy, "You came to visit? That's surprising?"

His glared sharpened on the girl, "Why's that?"

"Nothing! I meant nothing!" Her pillow sensed the stares of hostile intent and naturally floated away from the source.

The Twin-tailed girl had a worried look on her face as she saw him.

From what she remembered when the found Theristina…..

"(Why'd you have to run off Onee-sama…)"

"Just to let you know, I'm a proud member of Judgement, and I neither condone nor accept the level of force you implemented, civilians such as yourself shouldn't get involved. But since in the end, you did help wake up all the students I'll let this transgression pass."

She stood up and looked at him, "My name is Kuroko Shirai."

"..."

"Eh? No response?"

Index sighed, "Please forgive him, that just how he is sometimes…" In a voice as low as a whisper she said, "I think he's just shy."

"I'm not shy! I just don't have any interest in-"

"Oh, that makes sense!"

"You don't have to be shy!"

Accelerator clicked his tongue while plopping down in an empty chair.

His eyes were on that that floating Shut-in.

"Had a run-in with another Gemstone last night. You know anything?"

Aihana's head jerked up, "What's that supposed to mean!? I just came back to the facility a few days ago. How am I supposed to know every Gemstone out there? I don't even know everyone enrolled there yet like there's this girl, I think her names Himigami or something and she up and disappeared."

"Oh yeah, I forgot about her."

* * *

**Part 2**

"Oh, so he left already."

The golden blonde sighed as she took a seat in the cafe.

Saten who had been staring this whole time just watched as she stared off into space.

"I'm going to go ahead and guess that you already told Misaka-san that he was in the hospital correct."

Saten jolted after having been called out, "Y-You really can read minds."

She nodded, "Yes I can but I didn't have to read yours to know how to read a room. I'm gonna guess Misaka-san used her fear-mongering ability to 'warn' you about me."

She chuckled nervously, "A-A little."

She smiled, "Well as you can see, I'm not anything particularly much to be afraid of."

She yawned as she turned to face the window, "Those two probably left together somewhere, right?"

Saten lowered her head.

While she wasn't 100% sure of it. She suspected as much when Kamijou never came back.

"I see, well might as well wait for Touma to come back." She nonchalantly replied.

"EH!? Y-You're not mad?"

She raised an eyebrow, "Why would I be mad?"

"Heh, wow you really have a lot of confidence in yourself, huh."

She lowered her gaze at the #5s body.

"(_I would be too if I looked like that_.)"

Shokuhou shrugged, "It's not that I'm overconfident in myself, it's just that I trust Touma. Besides I was at fault for not getting here on time. I'm guessing Misaka-san took him somewhere to get his mind off what happened last night. Do you know what happened?"

Saten shook her head, "Sorry, Yuki-san only filled me in on what he saw, which wasn't much since he got taken out by the Alchemist guy before he could see him get taken down by Kamijou. I do know that it happened in Misawa Cram School if that helps."

"What?" Shokuhou genuinely looked surprised.

(_Accelerator lost. That means whoever they fought had to be._..)

The honey blonde rested her head on her hand.

"I-If you don't mind me asking, where were you?"

Shokuhou sighed, "Sadly I was away when the news reached me that Touma ended up in the hospital again. By the time I got the news, it was already morning and he had left. If only I had recruited a certain teleporter before they fell starstruck."

"?"

"In any case, do you know anybody who was also present at Misawa Cram School ...besides…."

Saten rubbed her temples as she thought.

"Oh! There was also, Himegami-san! She was there during the whole thing. Though I don't know where she ran off too."

"I'm right here."

The two of them turned their heads to see the Shrine Maiden sitting on the other table looking slightly dejected.

She had overheard them talking and slowly pieced together that the blonde was going out with the boy who saved her life.

The three of them moved into one of the booths in the cafe of the hospital to continue their talk.

"So you were present at the time of the incident, correct?"

Himegami seemed to look away, "So, the both of you already know about magic"

Saten nodded, "I don't mean to brag, but I have over 103,000 grimoires sleeping in my dorm."

Himegami sighed, "The white-haired boy said he didn't believe me and threw my Magic wand (Police Baton) out the window."

"I'll buy you another one. So, please tell me what happened that night."

Himegami seemed hesitant at first, but saw the look of concern on Shokuhou's face and gave in.

She described in detail the atrocities that unfolded in what was formerly known as Misawa Cram School.

Midway through the story, Saten almost seemed to cry after hearing how twisted everything was.

"So, that was about everything I remember. The only parts I don't know about are what happened when Kamijou met with Dummy and what happened with Aulerous."

"That's ...horrible. How could anyone do that?"

Shokuhou seemed quiet for the most part.

But then she finally spoke.

"Saten-san, how was Touma when you met him? Did he seem distraught at all?"

Saten stopped to think back.

"N-No, he seemed fine. But how could anyone be after that?"

Misaki shook her head.

"I've dealt with people with this type of trauma before. It usually manifests in two types, those who actively express their emotions and those who actively repress them. Truthfully, I don't know if Touma is the Former or the later since I never saw him, but if I had to choose, I'd say he's the ladder."

Misaki seemed as though she was in deep thought, though she didn't actually express her concern as openly as Saten.

"If you don't mind me asking, what was so important that it caused you to show up late?"

"...Family...I had family issues I had to deal with before coming here. When I finally did learn of it I rushed over as I said before, but I had to settle my affairs before arriving."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make it sound like.."

"No, it's alright. I suppose the fault lies with me. Though now it all makes a bit more sense now. Seeing as to why Misaka-san dragged Touma off somewhere."

"(_I don't know whether to be angry or_…)"

"In any case thank you for telling me this Himegami-san. Just out of curiosity, why don't you seem more phased given what just happened? Is your fortitude ability really that strong?"

Himegami spoke in a calming tone, "It's just that this isn't the first time I've witnessed death. So I wasn't too particular bothered by it. Though this was a first time for me dying so…."

"That doesn't seem particularly healthy either. Do you want to talk about it?"

Himegami shook her head, "Thank you for the offer, but as I said before, I'm not unfamiliar with death, and I've come to terms with it. All I ask is that you talk to Kamijou about it. He didn't seem particularly torn up either, but…"

"You don't have to waste your worrying ability on that. I'll be sure he gets the help he needs."

Himegami acknowledged that response by nodding and began to make herself back to her own hospital room.

"So...how are you gonna…"

Misaki smiled at her concern, "You don't have to worry. As I said before, I have a bit of a history with dealing with people with these types of problems. I'm just glad he's actively trying to get help for them, I would particularly like to be the first to know about these things but so is life."

Saten smiled at that response.

* * *

**Part 3**

"Yuki, I wanna fly too!"

The #1 didn't acknowledge her as he did just point her in the direction of the still floating #6.

Let someone else deal with that runt's attention span.

Edasaki seemed to be eyeing the girls who were all floating in the air too.

It seemed as though she wanted to try too.

"Hey, if you wanna try that shut-in's offer, go ahead."

She smiled as she shook her head, "I want to, but I can't. I'm still going through rehab you see. Since I was asleep for all this time my muscles need time to readjust to moving around." Her gaze then turned upwards, "But don't worry I'm working really hard to finish my rehab so Aihana-sama can make me fly too!"

"Yeah! And if you recover fast enough, we can go to school together, starting next term!" Haruue added.

Accelerator rolled his eyes and leaned back in his chair.

There were only 2 days left until the experiments began again.

After what happened yesterday, it put his thoughts into perspective.

Did he really even want to continue?

The whole reason he took part in the first place was to get back what he lost.

But now, he hasn't even made it halfway through the experiment and already has what he wanted.

"That's it! I have to go find Onee-sama!"

"Wait! Shirai-san I want to sta-"

His eyes widened in front of him as he saw the twin-tailed girl and her partner vanish before his eyes.

"(_Teleportation?_)"

This wasn't the first time he met a teleporter, the first one was a challenger who was trying to kill him by teleporting a piece of iron into his skull. Sadly for the competitor, he transformed the Vectors around his body to redirect the teleportation. After that, the teleporter got desperate and tried to use hit and run tactics on him which resulted in Accelerator punting him across the street.

"Oh, they left."

"It would seem so."

***BEEEEEEP***

However, they didn't have too much time to think about it as the hospital's emergency alarm went off.

"What's going on?" Edasaki asked, worried.

"I don't know?"

Accelerator slowly got up from his chair and made his way to the door.

"Oi runt. This time don't leave this room, got it!"

Index nodded as she continued to float in the air.

His gaze then turned to the #6 who was trying her best to float away.

The look he gave her said that if she even tried to leave this room or worse let anyone leave, she wouldn't live to regret it.

She nodded.

"Yuki-san,"

Accelerator turned his head to see the girl in the hospital look at him, "Just be careful."

He didn't respond as he left the room.

* * *

**Part 4**

"So Shokuhou-san, what're you gonna do in the meantime waiting for Kamijou?"

The honey-blonde Queen placed a hand on her slender waist, breathed a dissatisfied sigh, and looked up at the clock,

"I was hoping to spend time with you, oh well~"

"No, No. That's not what I meant at all! I would love to spend time with-"

"Great let's get going✩"

"Eh!? What just happened?"

Before she knew it, she was led to another empty section of the hospital that was full of coaches where visitors could wait.

"I would usually wait just outside Touma's room but since it's just the two of us I decided to bring us here."

Saten looked around the room to see if there were any other visitors in the area but couldn't find a single person in sight.

"Say, Saten-san how is taking care of Index? She hasn't been giving you any problems I hope."

"No, not at all! Well ...there was yesterday and how she just ran off without telling me ...but I already talked to her about it and told her not to do it again."

Saten felt like a babysitter talking to the mother of the child she was watching.

Come to think of it…

This whole situation felt like a soap opera for her.

"(_Yeah! Shokuhou and Kamijou are like the mom and dad ...but wait what would that make Index and Misaka ...Oh...didn't Kamijou and Misaka meet Index first? Wouldn't that make them the Mom and Dad?...No, Kamijou is in a relationship with Shokuhou so that would mean…._.)"

Saten cheeks turned a bright shade of pink as she came to her conclusion.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine! Nothing to worry about!"

Shokuhou seemed suspicious but dropped the issue for politeness' sake.

"Say Shokuhou-san….you and Kamijou are dating, right?"

"Yes, my relationship ability with Touma is at the point where were each other's significant other, why?"

"Well ...I already know how Misaka feels about Index but ...what about you? Wasn't it weird when Kamijou just brought Index?"

"Hmm...If my memory ability serves me right I only met Index when Touma was in the hospital so I wasn't really worried about that at the time….. If you're asking how I feel about Index, it would be that I know Touma cares for her so I do too. At first, when I met her I couldn't help but feel animosity towards her...he sacrificed everything to save her, and because of that he went through so much."

Misaki sighed as she remembered that day, "Honestly if that day went a bit differently, I would have a hard time looking at her the same way. I know Touma sacrificed everything so he could save her from that horrible life, so I would try my best to carry on his request, but at the end of the day, we're all human. I wouldn't blame her if the worst did come to pass, I would blame myself for not being there."

Misaki looked at the ceiling as she spoke, "I know I can't always follow him when he does get himself into trouble like that, as much as I want to, my combat ability is sub-par and the ability I do possess would only put others in harm's way. But that doesn't mean I can't help him in other ways and to be there for him when he needs help getting back up. So that's why I'm here and that's why I'll always help when I can, that includes Index."

Saten smiled, "That's so sweet. But I think you could help! I mean I'm just a Level 0 and you're a Level 5, there must be over a thousand things you could do to help him whenever he does get in trouble."

Misaki smiled at the praise, "Thank you. So you're a Level 0."

Saten nodded proudly.

"I'm glad you're not ashamed to admit your level. Most people would either try to lie about it or be embarrassed about it."

Saten smiled, "Kamijou told me awhile back that I should own up to it. He said that if I didn't want it to bother me, that I should wear it as a badge of pride."

Misaki smiled, "That sounds like something he would say. Saten-san can you show me your **SYSTEM Card**."

Saten nodded and quickly pulled it out of her pockets.

The Card was as big as an Index card and was made of high-tech paper that was lamented to be as sturdy as a sheet of hard plastic. It also had a small ID chip on the top right corner.

The card was filled out with all of her information pertaining to the SYSTEM scan including her Name, Age and Blood Type.

Saten read the card out loud for Shokuhou to hear.

"**Clairvoyance: A, Precognition: B, Psychometry: C, Telepathy: C,Psychokinesis: B**"

Misaki then motioned for Saten to hand her card so she could inspect it.

After a few seconds of reading over the card Misaki nodded.

"I see...Do you happen to go to a school that specializes in Levels 0-2?"

"Y-Yeah. How'd you know?"

Misaki then flipped Saten's Card to show her the top left-hand corner that had the number 0 written on it.

"The test you took for your SYSTEM scan was one generally used by lower funded schools to indicate the level of an individual."

"T-There different tests? I always thought we all took the same one."

Misaki nodded, "SYSTEM is subdivided into different categories based on one's Level. For example, you wouldn't expect to take the same test that Misaka-san takes since she's a Level 5 and you're a Level 0."

Saten nodded, "Why do they do that?"

"Money." That was her immediate response. "Each SYSTEM scan cost Academy City a sizable amount to do and the higher Level tests cost more. So the way tests are divided is by how much Academy City is willing to pay for you."

"W-Wow I never knew. I mean I knew that higher levels got a bigger allowance but that's news to me."

Misaki nodded, "Not many people do. The reason I bring this up is to discuss your Level."

Saten's eyes widened, "W-What about it?"

"You want to increase your level, don't you?"

"You can do that!?"

"Not in the way that you think. I can put you on the right track to help you along though. For example, Touma mentioned that you took Level Upper, correct?"

Saten eyes wandered to the ground at her being reminded of what she did.

"There's nothing to be ashamed of wanting to increase your ability. It's just the way you go about it that matters. But think of that experience, as a blessing in disguise. Can you tell me what ability you manifested when you did take it?"

"I...could manipulate air. I remember I could levitate a small bunch of leaves."

Misaki pointed back down to Saten's card.

"Tell me, under which branch would that power most fall under?"

Saten looked at the card and after thinking for a bit pointed at Psychokinesis

"Good, but if that's the case, why is your Clairvoyance score the highest?"

Saten scratched her head. "I don't know."

"Think back to what I told you about the different tests. The one you took was designed especially for Level 0s."

Saten's eyes widened as she realized what had happened.

"I got lucky!"

Misaki chuckled, "Correct, your Luck ability seems to be off the charts for you to get this kind of score. Since there are 25 cards in a pack of Zenner cards..the odds of you actually managing to pick them all out must mean...you should consider buying the lotto."

Saten scratched her head sheepishly.

"You see. The lower level tests are exactly like a guessing game. You managed to luck your way into an A in Clairvoyance even though you said your power was much more related to Psychokinesis."

"So wait, if that's the case, what's the point of getting an A?"

Misaki nodded, "Exactly. For the Lower Level test, an A might as well just mean you got Lucky. What you should be aiming for is an A+. That's the ranking that'll let you move up to the Next Level."

"A+?"

Misaki nodded. "Since you're a Level 0 I wouldn't expect you to hear the term outside of actual tests and because you don't actually see it in your report, but the way you actually move up in Levels is by excelling in one category of the 5 previously mentioned."

Misaki then pointed back at Saten's card. "The problem I have with the SYSTEM tests is that it doesn't accurately read scores. Take Touma for example, since he doesn't fall under any categories here he'd never be able to increase his level."

"So wait, how is any of this supposed to help me increase my Level?"

Misaki shot her a sly smile, "Eager to learn, are you~?"

Saten blushed embarrassed.

"It's simple really, a lower Level school like yours diversifies their education around all 5 categories here to try and find one that suits every student. But in doing that it limits the actual growth in each student since they're wasting time studying techniques useless to their power."

Misaki the poked at Saten's chest.

"You, however, are Lucky~"

"Uh,...T-Thank you?"

Misaki smiled, "You already know which category you should be studying. Psychokinesis. Talk to your teacher and tell him to focus more on that category for you rather than waste time on the others."

"Do you really think that'll help."

"It's better than wasting your time trying to read minds. Espers usually specialize in one category. So it's best not to spread yourself too thin. The more you focus on your specialty the faster it'll be to get results."

Saten smiled, "Thank you so much. I'll go talk to Mr. Diago right away. I never actually thought listening to that stupid sound file would actually help me out."

"It's no problem, really. It's the least I could do for you after your kindness ability spread out to housing Index."

"Wait, Kamijou's a Gemstone now, right? So what're his scores like?"

Misaki tilted her head slightly, "Gemstones are a bit peculiar. I don't know the specifics on how the lower Levels are graded, but I do know how the Diamonds are graded."

"A Gemstone is considered a Diamond in the eyes of Academy City when their SYSTEM scan shows them having a C or above in 3 or more categories when taking a standard Level 5 test."

"Wow, that's some high criteria."

Misaki nodded, "I know, for me, I couldn't imagine having to have all of those options."

***BEEEEEEP***

However, their conversation was cut short as the hospital's emergency alarm went off.

"What's happening?"

Misaki shrugged, "Never a dull moment."

* * *

**Part 5**

Stepping into the hallway, Accelerator first looked to his right to see if there was anything suspicious going on.

When he turned the corner, however, he saw it.

The barrel of an assault rifle pointed at his head.

"Get down or I'm gonna blow ya brains out!"

The #1 sighed.

"Really, this is it." He shook his head from side to side.

"Hey! I'm telling you to get down on the floor ya moron!"

Upon closer inspection, he saw the man who pointed a gun at him.

He was wearing a hospital patient gown, Accelerator than realized he saw this man on the news today as he was arrested for being a Pseudo radical just last night.

The #1 sighed heavily as he began to approach the man pointing the assault rifle at his face.

To the three men, he looked completely insane.

He was walking directly towards the barrel of his weapon with no fear or hesitation.

All the while, just looking more annoyed at the situation.

"This is going to get annoying," muttered Accelerator.

With no hesitation, the men squeezed the trigger and fired.

Streams of bullets came flying towards the #1s face.

He sighed.

***DING***

* * *

Accelerator shook his head a bit at the sad sight that was the Pseudo Radicals.

He felt a slight pity for the fools who dared shoot at him so he didn't redirect the bullets towards their faces and instead towards the floor

This was because he had the power to alter all types of vectors, so he normally reflected all vectors except for the bare minimum he needed such as oxygen and gravity.

That was why Accelerator did not hesitate to enter that horribly defenseless state.

Instead, he threw each of their bodies through a nearby wall, to anyone in the other room, it would seem as though they had a Pseudo radical mounted on their wall.

Sighing at the 1 minute of his life he had just wasted he began to make his way back towards the runt.

Knowing her she would probably go looking for him since Kamijou had already left and Saten was gone as well.

He was hoping for something more interesting than that, but given the fact that he was at an already high weight class when it came to combat, he simply accepted that he would probably meet stronger individuals if he stayed around Kamijou long enough.

"Freeze!"

Accelerator nonchalantly turned his head around to see where that voice originated from.

It was some Anti Skill officer who was currently taking cover behind one of the corners. It would seem as though the officer thought that the Radicals were still a threat.

"If you're looking for those third-rate rejects, they're right there." He nonchalantly pointed his finger at the walls around him.

The officer seemed hesitant at first but after a few seconds, she left her cover.

The moment she left her eyes maneuvered around the landscape seeing only one-half of the Radicals bodies since the other half was currently in the other room.

Her eyes finally settled on Accelerator when they widened.

"You're just a kid."

Accelerator tilted his head,

He recognized her.

However, she was dressed a bit differently the last time he saw her. She had long hair tied back and wore a green tracksuit.

"You're that weird PE teacher I saw in the park."

Her head jerked back, "Wait a minute ...hehe you're the kid who couldn't throw in a straight line right? How's that been going?"

"Tch! The sun was in my eyes!"

She continued to laugh she walked around the fallen.

"Seems like they're all still in one piece at least." She nonchalantly commented.

Accelerator narrowed his eyes at that comment that only confused the situation further.

She was surprisingly okay with the situation before her. It was like she didn't really care that 3 men were launched through walls.

As she continued to chuckle, the woman looked over toward Accelerator and said, "Anyway, my name's Yomikawa Aiho. I'm with Anti Skill as you can see."

"Obviously," said Accelerator in a disinterested tone.

"In any case, you should get going. I wouldn't want to keep you any longer than I have to."

"Are you sure about that?" said Accelerator in a completely normal tone. "You just saw what I was capable of, right? Letting me go now might be the same as letting loose another criminal."

She smiled and spoke, "Yuki, right?"

He clicked his tongue.

That ridiculous name the runt gave him was still causing him problems.

She noticed his reaction and smiled.

She had overheard his conversation with his friends in the park that day. She particularly took interest since he was with Kamijou and another young-looking girl who looked as though she barely out of elementary school.

"That's exactly why I'm not taking you in." Yomikawa also spoke like this was a completely normal conversation. "Have you forgotten what my job is? I'm not in the business of arresting innocent kids who're only guilty of protecting themselves."

Accelerator fell silent as he contemplated what Yomikawa had said.

"Say, where's that little girl who was with you in the park that day?"

His eyes unconsciously wandered towards the direction where he left her.

Seeing this only caused her to nod in realization.

"I see, so you weren't fighting for your own self-defense."

Accelerator clicked his tongue.

While Accelerator reflected on those thoughts, Yomikawa gave a smile that did not belong in an adult woman's face.

"I'm relieved. It looks like I have nothing to worry about."

Accelerator wrinkled his brow.

"That's why I can't stand you, idiots who don't even check over the situation properly," he muttered under his breath.

* * *

**Hospital Roof**

The time for the pick-up was 10 minutes ago and they had still yet to arrive.

After the raid on their main facility last night they had to regroup their forces as best they could so they wasted a majority of their remaining funds to purchase a helicopter to break out one of the leaders of the organization.

It was supposed to be a simple job that was only supposed to take 20 minutes at the most to complete.

And yet he was waiting over 30 minutes with no one in sight.

Seeing that his companions must have failed he started to take off without them

After getting about 5 meters in the air he heard a voice that sent chills down his spine.

"I guess there really isn't honor among thieves, huh?"

He turned his head slightly and saw a pale looking kid slowly make his way through the roof's entrance.

Seeing him immediately sent shivers down his spine.

"(_He's dangerous!_)"

Without a second thought, he immediately started maneuvering the helicopter to get as far away as possible.

***DING***

"No that wasn't very nice."

Despair started filling his heart, he could feel his breath as he leaned closer.

"Guess I'm gonna have to teach you some manners."

As calmly as those words were spoken it did not match the action of him throwing him out of the helicopter.

The sounds of alarms going off in the helicopter started to blare out as there was no more pilot to man the chopper.

The #1 simply stomped on the floor of the helicopter hard enough to crack it and launched himself back on the roof of the hospital while blasting the helicopter into a nearby river overlooking a bridge.

Now overlooking the crash site he muttered to himself.

"What a boring day."

* * *

**Part 6**

"Huh? Why'd you stop running."

The #5 waved her off, "The situation just got handled. There's no reason for us to use our full running ability right now."

Though she was telling the truth, she was secretly trying to hide the fact that if she ran anymore, she would be panting like a dog.

"Besides this is the door you were going to, right?"

Saten looked at the nameplate and nodded.

With one fluid motion, she opened the door.

"Wait! Saten-san! The hospital is still on-"

"Hey!- GWAH!"

Saten felt herself pinned down against the weight of the world and fell face-first to the ground unable to even lift her head up.

"W-Wait! That's Ruiko!"

"Oops! I'm so sorry!"

The weight on Saten started to lighten and she quickly found herself being helped up by Index and Haruue.

"Geh... wha...what.. just happened?"

Delirious from the sudden blow, the room around her was spinning.

The girls laid her down on the second hospital bed.

"I am so...so...so Sorry! I-I thought you were a ...well I didn't really know what I thought you were, they really didn't say anything over the intercom. Are you okay?"

Saten's eyes started to regain clarity as she began to clearly see the girl hovering over her.

"A-Aihana-san?"

The #6 nodded.

"I wanna fl-"

Before she could finish her request, she fell asleep.

* * *

"**The hospital is now out of lockdown!**"

The voice over the loudspeaker spoke those words right as Saten Ruiko was counting sheep.

"A bit late, don't you think?"

After tucking Saten into bed, Aihana sheepishly scratched the back of her head.

"S-So….how's it going Shokuhou-san?"

Misaki poked her head inside the room.

After witnessing Saten get flattened she was much more hesitant to enter a room.

"A-Aihana-san, I know that was only out of self-defense, but your defensive ability is quite" She turned to see the unconscious Saten, "Fearsome."

Aihana's face turned red, "I-I didn't mean to! It's just the hospital went into lockdown and we heard gunshots and then someone just whips the door open and…"

"It's okay. It happens to everyone," The honey blonde turned her head to see Index currently fanning Saten with what looks like a makeshift paper fan, "Besides it wasn't just yourself you were protecting."

Misaki walked towards Index and smiled, "I'm glad to see you're okay Index-san. After what happened yesterday I was worried."

"Eh? Oh! Misaki! I'm fine, Touma and Yuki were both there to help me out along with ...Stiyl, so I wasn't in any real danger. I'm just glad everyone got out okay."

She had an innocence to her that made Misaki wonder what she thought actually happened there.

From the descriptions she got, Misawa Cram school was a battlefield and yet here she is talking like nothing particularly bad happened.

It was like she was unaware that there was any real danger there, to begin with.

Right as she was about to question her further she heard the door slide open again.

"Tch! What a waste of my time. I could've -"

His voice trailed off as he saw the #5 stand there near the Index.

Accelerator clicked his tongue.

He didn't care if she just stood there, but that child had a habit of running off somewhere when she was bored, so he highly doubted she would actually stay put unless someone was constantly feeding her attention.

"Guess I can finally go back."

"Eh!? But Yuki we still have to wait for-"

Before she could finish Misaki held onto her shoulder.

"Index, let him go."

The words that exited her mouth were uncharacteristically cold.

#1 spared one last glance at the room before making his way back to his room.

"Misaki, why'd you stop me?"

She responded by playfully rubbing her head causing her headdress to get messed up.

"What~ I can't spend time with you too~ Your cruelty ability really does have no limits now does it Index-san~"

"Oh, no, I want to spend time with you too." Index said this as she tried to fix her headdress with little success.

She was currently just spinning it around in circles trying to get it straight.

Misaki smiled as she continued to watch her.

* * *

At 5 PM, Shokuhou Misaki left the air-conditioned hospital room and placed her hand in her purse. She held a cell phone in his other hand.

It was beginning to get late and Touma has still not returned.

She was not the type to micromanage his life but a simple call would go a long way in easing her worries.

Since Touma's phone was most likely destroyed since he didn't call her, she was going to swallow her grudge and call Misaka.

In truth, she was the last person she wanted to see right now for numerous reasons, but she was willing to set that aside for his sake.

"There you are! You're Shohuhou Misaki-san, right!?"

A bright girl's voice came her way. Hearing her name, Misaki looked up with a look that seemed to say "What's this?"

A middle school girl smaller than Misaki stood there. She wore a sailor uniform and had lots of artificial flowers on top of her short, black hair.

"It's...Uiharu Kazari-san, right?"

"Wow, you remembered!"

Uiharu's eyes sparkled.

The look in her eyes was one of pure envy. She longed for the world of rich girls she saw in this "upperclassman from Tokiwadai Middle School"

Misaki remembered her vaguely from the Judgement office she and Touma visited.

Uiharu timidly asked, "Um...Shirai-san asked me to check the hospital to see if Misaka-san came back yet."

"Hm?" Misaki frowned.

"Well...You see... Shirai-san had some Judgment work forced onto her...no, I mean she is working very hard. She really wants to come here herself, but I came instead because it didn't look like that was going to happen anytime soon."

Misaki nodded.

She remembered Shirai from Tokiwadai. When she first enrolled in Tokiwadai she tried to get her to join her clique, but the girl seemed adamant about staying out of those types of affairs. That was until she met Misaka.

If there was such a thing called love at first sight, then what Shirai had for Misaka was more of an obsession since she started doting on Misaka every chance she got. She even went so far as to get Misaka's roommate to switch rooms with her by some ...questionable means.

Though if Misaki had to say, she was one of the few things that Misaka had that she actually envied.

"So I guess we're in the same boat. Have you tried calling Misaka-san?"

Uiharu nodded, "I called her two hours ago and she said she was busy with something"

Misaki frowned.

"N-no, no! I-I'm sure they'll be back soon!" She was so flustered it was obvious what she actually thought.

Right as she was about to dial the buttons she heard her name being called.

"Shokuhou Misaki."

Her face beamed, however, it soon returned to normal once she saw where the voice originated from.

Uiharu tilted her head, "Shokuhou-san do you know this-"

***PI***

Stars appeared in the girl's eyes as she started to make her way to Edesaki's room, forgetting the newest person she had just seen.

"I told you not to come here until you were done."

She said in a flat tone.

When she finally turned around, she saw her, she had an average build and had unkempt hair that was hiding the bags under her eyes. She was wearing some sort of gothic clothing.

It was none other than the genius third year at Nagatenjouki Academy and the developer of Testament, Shinobu Nunotaba.

"Sorry, I just wanted to let you know I was almost complete with the project you wanted." She narrowed her eyes at the #5, "Though, I was more than thoroughly surprised when I saw you come out of the same room as the #1."

She scoffed.

"If I really was playing for the other team, then why would I have bothered to meet you at some run-down facility in the middle of the night. With my ability, I could've have made you do it."

The researcher's eyes lessened, "Even so, I have my own reasons to be hesitant of you in particular."

"Yes, Yes, the life of a runaway researcher is a difficult one, save me your sob story ability. Unless you actually finish the project or you run into an obstacle don't contact me, especially here."

Shinobu nodded as she pulled out the burner cell Shokuhou had provided her previously.

"I just want you to know, I can't exactly guarantee the outcome you want with this project, I can try my best but at the end of the day…"

"Just go already…"

She complied as she started making her way back to her secret facility.

Misaki bit her lip as she watched her walk away.

"(Only 2 more days…)"

* * *

**Part 7**

Kamijou Touma's Hospital Room

The time was 7 PM and Shokuhou Misaki had taken it upon herself to lay on her boyfriend's hospital bed.

The dying light of the sunset penetrated the glass windows of the room-filling the already maroon colored room with a slight orange tint.

Misaki frowned as she remembered the entire reason as to why she had the room colored in the first place.

The day she went to fist Touma in the hospital after he forgot her, he complained about how the room looked like an optical illusion closing in on him.

It was the first and only time he actually complained about that room since she knew him.

After hearing that she made her way through the hospital files and read up on Touma's case.

Her heart sank as she read how much his psyche really was damaged from that experience.

Hearing that she had to pull every favor she had including informing Kumokawa Seria of his condition to help her change the room to help with his recovery.

Normally she could've easily helped someone in that situation with her powers, but not him.

He was not so fortunate, she contemplated confronting him about it, but realized that would only spiral him more into the state he was in.

Thinking back on it, it was around that same time he started to frequently hang around Accelerator.

After a few days of TLC, he was finally looking like himself again, that was when he asked to leave the hospital.

At first, she had to admit that she was surprised at how determined he was to actually leave, however, nothing surprised her more than when she saw him and Accelerator together.

Compared to the memories she saw in his mind, he almost seemed like a decent person.

If it wasn't for her hearing the way he spoke about who he was and if it wasn't for seeing the smile that Accelerator had on his face when he listened, she would've told Touma right then and there who he was hanging around.

In her mind, she thought that somehow, he could reach out to him and drag him out of the darkness.

And so she waited.

She watched as they all spent time with each other.

She watched as they all grew attached to one another.

In an attempt to truly see what kind of a person he really was, she gave him a test.

She allowed Index to the underground facility that one day.

Now she wasn't the type to send a little girl to her death, she was at arm's length the entire time and there was even another Level 5 present so there was no real danger to her whatsoever.

However, that information wasn't private, Accelerator also knew that Aihana was there so he could have easily just let her go inside the building without even batting an eye. Let her be someone else's problem.

Had he truly been the monster she thought he was, he would have let Theristina enter the facility, however, he didn't.

While his way of dealing with her was crude and he could've held back it didn't take away from what he did to protect that girl.

In the back of her mind, she knew where this was leading too. In a small way, she hoped that Accelerator would've backed out of the experiments after spending time with them, but even then that wouldn't erase what he did to Dolly's little sisters.

The only thing to do now was to wait for that day and help steer that outcome in the right direction.

If the worst comes to fruition, she would shelve her pride and admit to her mistakes so that they can finally put an end to the experiments.

"***Sigh*** A heroine always holds up hope till the end they say…"

Right as she was about to doze off, she heard the door slightly creek open.

In the doorway, a certain Spiky black-haired boy jumped back.

"Eh? Misaki, what're you doing here? It's getting late."

She narrowed her eyes, "I know, so why are you coming here so late?"

He sheepishly smiled, "Y-You see we were on our way back when suddenly a helicopter got flung into a river. Right as we were about to get going a bunch of little kids jumped into the river bank to go play with the wreckage," He shook his head side to side, "Biri-Biri wanted to go in, but I know what happens when you put a toaster in a pool so I went instead."

He then tugged on his clothes, "Once I did get them out, I had to go back home to get a change of clothes"

"...Your misfortune ability never ceases to amaze me…"

"What's that supposed to mean!?"

Right as he was about to say something else he remembered what he had brought, he dug both his hands into his pockets.

"Right or left?"

Misaki tilted her head, was this some new technique he made to get himself out of a scolding from her?

"Uh...right?"

Touma took his right hand out of his pockets and showed the contents to Misaki.

It was a milk-white Television remote that was covered with scuff marks all over, it seemed as though he must have found it in the trash somewhere, right as she was about to call him out on it she saw something distinct about that certain remote.

A star.

"I found this when I was walking around District 21, I thought it might belong to you so I... Misaki are you okay? Your eyes are.."

The Starry-eyed girl blushed as she looked at him with a smile as radiant as the setting sun.

"Thank you…"

She picked herself off of his bed and embraced him.

"...You're welcome? You should really try to take better care of your stuff. Who knows how long that's been there?"

Misaki continuing to tighten her grip on him, lips wavering between a bitter and happy smile.

"...Don't worry...ever since then I always carried more than one remote on me at all times."

"?"

"By the way, what was in your other pocket?"

Kamijou smiled as he dug his free hand into his pocket and pulled out the contents.

A pebble.

"What's that?"

"My phone. I bought the most expensive one I could remember?"

She stared at him puzzled.

"I-Is that a joke."

He shook his head, "Believe it or not, that was my phone."

She continued to inspect the pebble.

"...I...Okay?"

"Geh!? Stop checking my head for any injuries! I'm being serious this is my phone. Yesterday some Alchemist transfigured it into a literal pebble. Heh...the one good thing I got out of that whole ordeal was the ability to tell that joke..."

He silently laughed to himself.

"Anyways, it's getting really late. You should probably head back to your dorm. It's all the way in the Garden of Learning, right? That's at least a half-hour by taxi. If you want I could come along, though I can't make it past the gate so you should probably call Hokzae-san or one of your friends to take you the rest of the way."

The smile that was wavering between bitter and happy finally found its answer.

Bitter.

If she didn't know what actually happened at the Cram School she never would have known.

He seemed the same, still smiling and caring for others.

"Touma…..you never told me what happened yesterday."

His eyes widened in surprise for a moment, "Oh yeah sorry about that. Crazy day and all. It wasn't anything major"

There was a long pause

"You're dodging the question…" Misaki had the look of concern painted on her face.

Touma frowned,

"I-It wasn't pretty. A lot of the stuff there was messed up in more ways than one. Are you sure?"

Misaki held onto his arm,

"I'm sure."

* * *

"Anyways that's about it…"

"...It's jarring to hear you say that with such a calm face you know."

Touma tilted his head, "Calm?... I don't know if you can tell but that situation was anything but that. I'm just grateful I was able to save as many people as I could… I know that there were some that didn't make it and I know I never actually spoke to any of them but…"

Misaki held him close, "I know…"

***Beep***

Before they could get to comfortable a sound came from Misaki's phone.

"!?"

"!?"

Misaki pulled out her phone, "It's from Junko...Curfew is about to start."

"Oh right. You're going home."

"Yeah…"

Touma smiled softly,... "...Well, uh, I'll walk you to the bus stop then."

"..."

Touma started to lead her to the door but she suddenly stopped in front of the door.

"Misaki?... What's up?"

She turned around.

"Hey ...are you.."

Before he could say another word, he felt her hold onto his chest.

"Do I really have to go home today?"

"Fueh!?"

"It's just that...I don't want to leave you…"

"D-Don't say that, what about curfew?

Her only response was to squeeze him tighter.

"Lemme stay…"

"Oof!"

* * *

**Epilogue**

As he lay there in bed, Kamijou couldn't help but sigh.

_How did it come to this? It's all Misaki's fault!_

Faced with a request he couldn't refuse he relented.

Touma went over the day he just had.

— New phone = 30,000 Yen

— Bus ticket = 500 Yen

Money left in account 3500 Yen.

He sighed once more before turning his head to his right.

There she slept nestled in his arm, Shokuhou Misaki

He even remembered the words she spoke to him.

"Can I use… Your arm as a pillow?"

—First Time Sleeping Together with a Girlfriend = **PRICELESS**

_I wonder what shampoo she uses, she smells good… Looks like I'm not getting any sleep tonight..._

He then felt her rustling…

_Uh-oh, did I wake her up?_

"Touma…"

_My name?_

"I love you…"

"!?"

Slightly petting her sleeping head he said as quiet as a whisper…

"Come on, I love you too…"

_I'm happy but this is troublesome...I can't sleep!_

* * *

**Author's notes**

If you're wondering how Kuroko was able to teleport even though Aihana and her were in the same room it was simple, she knew how much she changed the gravity by. Before she could only guess by what variable Aihana changed the gravity around her and because of that she couldn't account for the difference in her calculations. If she knows the exact number by what Ahana changes the Gravity by then she can still teleport albeit it's still pretty risky.

And when Kuroko teleported Uiharu away she was still floating...

You can imagine the fun they had dealing with that while waiting for Aihana's personal gravity tampering to wear off.


	33. Chapter 33 Unexpected Fortune?

**Hey guys Thanks for reading Certain Scientific Counter! Thank you for everyone who left a review and I'd like to thank my Beta-Reader Graeskog for helping me edit this chapter. Have you've all seen the newest episode of A Certain Scientific Accelerator? Pretty good. So without further ado Q&A!**

**Aminadab Brulle- Oh that was because she was being distracted on purpose. Had she not gone for that the stakes would've been raised more to force her to become distracted on anything else but Misawa Cram School. And yeah that's a pretty go summation of what happened to her. And yeah she's more of work behind the scenes person than anything. And yeah the epilogue was N'waaa**

**BlueJack22- Thank you!**

**nameless- Glad you like the chapter and the ending especially. And yeah we're just getting started on the layers of complexities of Academy City. I thought a POV from Misaki might be able to explain the situation from a certain standpoint. Besides she is in the character Tag list so it was bound to happen. I'm glad you caught onto that throwback to chapter 1. And ironically I was finishing the chapter when I saw your comment and was like your idea actually happened. And Misaka isn't perfect, she's flawed like everyone in the series is, though it's her growth that makes her interesting to watch as the series unfolds. As always I like your ideas. Thank you for the review!**

**tsun- It wasn't her family, it was Dolly's, she's just honoring her memory by helping the little sisters. And yeah Misaki is pretty chill, Touma already told her about the situation so it wasn't like she was blind to the situation. And she wouldn't get jealous that easily since she learned after watching him that a lot of girls like Touma. And Yeah Olleus said that if Gunha understood his power more then it could beat him though he mentioned that he would have the potential to beat him not that it was a sure thing. Gemstones are in the realm of Magic and Science as their powers really overlap with the other.**

**D N Works- Misaki was thinking that Magic is dangerous if it could beat Accelerator like this. And here it is the beginning chapter of the Sister's arc!**

**Fortitude501- Yes many Feels. And the last one is astronomical. Thanks for the comment!**

**RoachVit- Find out when that Arc comes.**

**KRKing- For one to truly suffer one must understand what love is. You can't have one without the other. And the ship was rocked! And Touma the Saint Destroyer! And Laura was making a reference... to what, only the true movie buffs will get. And she didn't name it Kaori did, the reason why Itsuwa is upset is that she used the technique she spent years perfecting to protect the priestess to use against the Priestess.**

**Chris- Yes Misaki does have OCD problems with getting Intel its part of the reason why she's not the sanest of the Level 5s. And yeah Himegami was there the entire time, and she's used to death since she caused so many by accident since her power is only used to kill, remember the village that was found in ash, those were all people who she killed with her power by accident since they all tried to suck her blood. Yes early meeting for Yuki and Yomikawa, she straight up called him out on it too. And yeah, Misaki's relationship with Touma is at the point where she trusts him no matter what happens. And you are correct, that was a callback to everyone who read chapter 1 of this series. And yes he achieved one of life's greatest achievements...a priceless thing indeed. And I don't get what you mean about Angel Fall? But I want too...can you explain? And yep, this was Misaki hyping herself up for SISTERS Arc, it also explains why she doesn't tell him outright since she made herself a promise to keep him from getting involved in the Dark...Thank you as always for your Review!**

**Muramasa96- You'd think. Before this Acceleertor had no name, no friends and was sentenced to a life of constantly being pitted against to the death if getting hospitalized a few times in order to slowly pay back tat mountain of debt he owes then its worth it. For Aihana, she was basically a shut-in who had no prospects of ever even leaving her house or any friends but now she does. If anything Touma is absorbing their bad luck to even them all out. And some big developments indeed! And you'll see. Thanks for the comment and thank you for the good luck.**

**NNeko- Yep after months of writing we're finally here! And yeah his viewpoint has changed a lot so some things might change while others don't, but is it enough to make a difference? Read and find out. Thank you for the comment.**

**GunsAndMagic- What is she planning indeed...? And thank you, I tried to make their relationship as organic as I could, they really do love each other and that's due to the experiences they shared with each other, not because of some weird obsession. In the end, they respect and trust each other to the point where they love each other, Thank you for the comment.**

* * *

**Unexpected Fortune?**

**February 14**

The morning of this day was brisk as the sun shone even as the cold air still lingered on from the winter that was slowly coming to an end.

It was on this day that a Certain honey blonde girl paced impatiently up and down in her room.

The reason is simple.

It was on this day that she decided to send the one who she held close to her heart a Valentine's Day card.

Or in other words, a Love Letter.

In the past months, she had tried to initiate a relationship between the two of them but always failed in a spectacular fashion.

While her body has matured quite a bit since he first met her in the hospital after that fateful day, that didn't change the way he saw her. As a little girl.

Now you might wonder how an attractive girl such as herself would have a hard time winning over this certain boy's heart and making him see her as the young woman that she was, and that too was quite simple, he was dense…

It wasn't even as though she wasn't vocal with desires either, in fact, she was very vocal to the point that the only thing she was missing was to confess to him.

Though due to a promise she made to him in the past, she couldn't outright ask him for a relationship or pressure him in any way. While he didn't even remember this promise, she did and she wasn't the type of girl to go back on her word.

So, while she could be by his side every day and voice her admiration of him all day long she was unable to admit her feelings towards him due to a promise she made that one fateful day.

What a cruel fate! However, she had found a loophole in this situation.

While she couldn't outright ask him for a relationship or pressure him in any way that didn't mean she couldn't follow a common tradition and send him a Valentine's Day Card she made herself by hand.

Was she bending the intended meaning of the promise?

Yes, but at this point, she would take what she could get. It's been months since she stayed by his side and he still didn't see her as anything else but a friend.

Plus, her only real competition was out of the running, for now, so she had to take advantage of this window of opportunity.

So she sent the letter with a courier to leave it at his desk.

She could picture it inside her head right now,

Touma would see her bright pink letter sealed with a golden star and immediately be able to tell that it was from her…

-Just in case she wrote her name on the front, back of the envelope and addressed herself in the letter...She wasn't about to let some misunderstanding allow someone else to get ahead of her.

Once he opened the letter, he would finally be able to see her true feelings.

After that, it was only a matter of saying the right words and getting into the perfect atmosphere to get him to ask her for a relationship…

Her cheeks were tinged with a bright shade of pink as she continued to pace.

She was currently waiting for a call from him to thank her for the letter.

**Four hours later…**

"Ugh! Why isn't he calling! Being surprised is one thing, but denying the truth is unacceptable!"

The Queen of Tokiwadai had been patiently waiting for a Certain boy to call her, but no call ever came.

She could accept that he was surprised and was taking his time, but this is too much!

Even if he was so dense that he didn't understand her message, she should've at least gotten some type of response by now.

After the two-hour mark, she started imagining scenarios where he read the letter and was unable to contact her due to either those idiots he calls friends fighting him or his natural luck preventing the call to go through.

However, right as the three-hour mark came around, she started to wonder if she had been too pushy and inadvertently scared him away or worse, he didn't respond because he didn't have any feelings towards her! "What if he wants to end our friendship!"

But right as the fourth hour came ticking by, she had enough waiting.

She steeled her resolve. Even, if he was going to, reject her, even if she was marching into a room full of heartbreak, she would face it with dignity.

Because she was a class act and that's what he was going to see!

* * *

"Hmm...What's up Shokuhou-san?"

Misaki twinged a bit at his words. It's been months since they have known each other and still, he wasn't on a first-name basis for her.

She shook that off and curiously looked at the boy, "Ahem, Touma, I was wondering if you knew what today was?"

He tilted his head, "February 14th. Why?"

A tick mark appeared on her head, "I mean the holiday."

Touma sighed, "Yeah I know, its Valentine's Day."

She narrowed her eyes at him.

"So I guess you found out, huh…"

_I knew it..._

"Look, just tell me so I can…"

Before she could finish her sentence, she froze at the dead look in Touma's eyes.

"Not a single one…."

"Eh?"

"...I didn't even get a single Valentine's Day Card." He chuckled dryly, "I mean it's not like I was expecting anything, to begin with, but ...not even one out of formality ...such misfortune…"

"W-Wait! What're you talking about!?"

"What a sad holiday to be alone…."

At this point, he was falling into the abyss known as **Forever Alone.**

Misaki had a confused look on her face as she thought over the situation in her head.

"(T-That doesn't make any sense! Even if my letter got lost, I would've expected him to get at least one from his classmates as a formality...unless)"

Her mouth gaped open as she realized what had happened.

* * *

A certain girl was sitting around on her couch in an apartment. This girl's name was Kumokawa Seria.

She had a satisfied smirk on her face as she watched her fireplace light up with the new kindling which she had acquired from a certain boy's desk.

While she couldn't interact with him so long as she still had to work, she could at least make it so that the other problem child couldn't do anything either.

* * *

"(That old hag is an enemy of love! What kind of person destroys a love letter!?)"

"Well anyways I'm gonna go. It was nice seeing you two."

"Eh!?"

Misaki's head jerked back as she watched him walk away.

"W-Wait! Where are you going!?"

Touma's head turned to see them.

"I'm gonna go hang out with the Delta Force today."

Misaki's face had a smile plastered on, but beneath the surface, she had dread etched on her very being.

Those were the last people she wanted him to hang around today of all days especially.

"T-Touma wouldn't you rather hang out with-"

He raised a hand to stop her,

"Sorry, it's just...its embarrassing to be hanging around a girl, today of all days...but I promise I'll hang out with you guys tomorrow! It was nice seeing you two today, get home safe!"

As he walked away the Queen had a defeated look in her eyes. But on the inside, she was screaming.

"(WHAT KIND OF IMPOSSIBLE MODE IS THIS! IT'S LIKE THE UNIVERSE IS PLOTTING AGAINST ME!)"

She sighed as she wondered if he would see her as something other than just a friend.

She smiled as she watched him wave to her.

"(In any case...I'm glad I still have a chance. A heroine always holds up hope till the end✩)"

* * *

**August 10**

As the sun shined on her face the golden blonde stretched her arms high in the air as she rose from her deep slumber.

She looked around the maroon colored hospital room and smiled.

Right as she was about to leave the bed, she heard the door slide open and on the other side her Prince.

Her smile became more radiant as she saw him carrying a plate covered in a chrome cloche.

"What's this~ Breakfast in bed?" She had a sly smile etched on her face, "Well I guess it's only natural when this is the first time we slept together~"

He blushed as he took off the cloche and presented her with the contents.

"D-Don't say it like that! Anyways, I hope you like it."

On the plate was what looked to be an assortment of pastries along with a small pitcher of fresh-squeezed orange juice

"I must say that the color of your dish is what caught my attention… the unblemished, snow-white color is quite eye-catching… I'm assuming that it's some kind of pastry?"

"Your assumption would be correct," Kamijou said with a nod.

"A powdered sugar pastry isn't that unusual to see at breakfast, though if Junko saw this she would probably be upset."

Kamijou gestured to one of his dishes. "You should try one for yourself to find out if it's worth it"

"Now you've piqued my curiosity… very well, I'll try one." Misaki gently picked up one of the pure-white pastries sitting on the platter and took a bite. She let out a loud gasp at the delicious flavors swirling about his mouth.

"D-Delicious! Th-This isn't some typical custard or jelly-filled doughnut-like I was expecting… th-there's an entire egg inside the pastry dough!" Her face was full of wonder and shock.

"That's partially correct," Kamijou admitted, "The outside pastry is a crust that combines the best parts of yeast and a malasada. I filled the inside of my pastry with egg, or I should say a fake egg."

"The 'egg white' part of the filling is an Italian meringue which I made from egg whites, sugar, a simple heated syrup mixture, and lavender; while the 'egg yolk' part is a smooth compote made from fresh blended lemon, pineapple, and cinnamon."

"Incredible…!" She took another large bite of the pastry. "But… how did you get to caramelize if you stuffed it inside the pasty?"

"It's the fruit compote. A compote is made over heat, instead of letting it cool completely once it was finished, I immediately piped it into the pastry and the heat is what caramelized and hardened the meringue! With a hardened marshmallow-like meringue it was all wrapped up in a light and fluffy pastry dough… with no artificial preservatives. It's my own version of an Egg Tart."

"Again, incredible…! The tartness and acidity of the compote with the smooth floral notes from the meringue, coupled with the airy, softness of the pastry and even the sweetness of the powdered sugar coating… it all melds together beautifully and it's like I'm floating away on a cloud made of delicious eggs!"

Touma smiled, "Glad you liked it."

"I give this dish my one-hundred percent approval!"

Touma smiled as he watched her eat them with a child-like expression on her face the entire time.

Once she was finished she saw as the door swung open once again and in stepped Junko.

She brought Misaki a change of clothes and once Touma left she changed.

After about 15 minutes of talking she exited the room.

She had a smile on her face the entire time she spoke, "I'll see you later Touma✩"

With a goodbye kiss, she left Touma alone in his hospital room.

1 second

.

2 seconds

.

3 seconds

.

Once he couldn't hear her footsteps in the hallway...

***THUD!***

Touma collapsed on the floor onto his back.

In stark comparison to Misaki's day, Touma was having the worst day.

* * *

**Earlier…**

The time was early in the morning. Earlier than most students who were on summer vacation should wake up.

However, the cold air of the hospital room woke him up.

Touma opened his eyes and felt a weight that clung onto him from his right side.

As quiet as a whisper he muttered: "It wasn't a dream…"

There she laid clinging to his side, prominent chest pressed up against him, Shokuhou Misaki.

He maneuvered his arm as carefully as one would be when cutting wires when defusing a bomb as to not wake her up.

After carefully getting his arm out and gingerly laying her head on the pillow there, he was faced with another large problem.

She was now clinging onto his shirt.

Normally he could have just yanked himself free, but since he didn't want to disturb her he had to snake his way out of her grasp.

How you may ask?

He simply took off his shirt and left her clinging onto it.

Once he managed to make his way out of the bed, he Indiana Jones's his way into getting his shirt back.

Once he had it in his hands he saw that she was shivering.

The air conditioning in the room was on the maximum setting since it was summer, and because of his great escape, he took off the covers of the bed.

Not wanting to see her cold he tucked her in…

Right as he finished, and right as he was about to put his shirt back on the unexpected happened…

The door unceremoniously swung open…

"Kamijou-sama. Misaki didn't come home last night and ..."

Hokaze Junko stepped into the room worrying over her lost Queen. She was hoping to get help from him but instead...

She saw a shirtless Kamijou stand over a bed that housed her Queen, she was tucked in such a way that she couldn't tell if she was clothed or not.

She made eye contact with Kamijou.

The look on his face told the whole story…

Time stopped…

The world stopped…

"I'm…...sorry!"

"No, wait!"

Face flushed red Hokaze Junko ran out of the hospital room.

Kamijou had neither the time nor the luxury to think, he knew that the moment she activated her powers he could no longer be able to reach her in time.

So it was for this reason why Kamijou ran after the attractive ringlet-haired middle school girl, shirtless.

Once he was outside the room, he saw her beginning to rush down the hallway.

This was his only chance…

Once she made it past that corridor she would be out of his reach…

So, bending his knees he launched himself like some sort of savage predator towards his target.

***Shatter!***

He tackled the purple-haired ringlet girl to the ground just in time as she was a mere moment away from activating her ability.

"K-Kamijou-sama!"

He felt himself holding something soft…

His world shattered….

The two of them then heard a nurse scream…

"EEEK! That boy is attacking that girl!"

It was at that moment that Touma realized what the situation looked like…

He had no shirt on and he was chasing down an attractive middle school girl.

And now he was currently pinning this girl down to keep her from running away.

At the realization of this, he could only yell…

"SUCH MISFORTUNE!"

* * *

**Accelerator's Hospital room.**

"Ah! I see! I'm sorry I misunderstood the situation Kamijou-sama I should have known someone like you would never do something like that."

The ringlet haired girl smiled and nodded after Touma finished explaining himself.

Once the nurse yelled at the two of them, he dragged Junko to the closest hospital room he could find. Yuki's room.

When he first watched the two teens run into his room his eyes immediately widened after seeing that Kamijou had no shirt on and the girl he dragged in by the arm hair was messed up.

He was going to say something but seeing as how not a moment later he saw the boy nearly collapse due to having a nervous breakdown over the entire situation he took pity on him.

"Do you even know what that something is?" Kamijou asked.

Hokaze blushed, "Y-You hug and...? You know. Like that? And you hug when the moonlight reaches the both of you?"

Her knowledge only went as far as her Shoujo manga reading habits.

"What the heck is even going through your head!?" Regaining his composure, he picked himself back off the floor, "Anyways it's too soon for me to be doing stuff like that. I wanna be more of an adult before I do anything like that."

Junko smiled as she watched him speak sincerely.

She then snapped her fingers, "Oh! I completely forgot that I have to go back to the dorms and get the Queen a new pair of clothes! Kamijou-sama can you get her Breakfast ready?"

She said it as though it was more of a statement than a question.

"But..."

Before he could finish, she already handed him a pen and paper.

"If you could write out what you're going to make her for breakfast, including ingredients, that would be much appreciated Kamijou-sama."

Accelerator raised an eyebrow, "Why?"

"That's easy. The Queen has a set amount, of calories she's allowed to have, so whatever he makes I'll have to update the rest of her schedule to reflect it, usually in the dorms we all have the same meal together in the dining hall so it's easier to keep track of."

"What!? How high maintenance is the #5!?"

Junko smiled, "I see you still don't understand, you see Yuki-san, the Queen always has a set schedule that can be adapted to any situation given on the time she…" She took a quick glance at her Gekota styled phone, "Ahh! She's due to wake up in an hour or so! Kamijou-sama have you finished yet!"

"H-Here!"

Junko quickly took the paper out of Kamijou's hands and with her own pen started making the calculations

After watching her blitz through the equations with small sparks emitting from her body she finished.

"Perfect, now if you don't mind I must excuse myself."

With grace following every step, she walked out of the room and towards her dorm.

With a smile as bright as the sun, she spoke one last sentence before she left.

"I'm counting on you, Kamijou-sama."

That was the line that sealed him to his Fate.

"Ahh!" Kamijou clutched his head, "I gotta hurry if I don't make it to the grocery store and back home I'll-!"

"Are you fucking serious!? Just get some hospital food and call it a day."

Kamijou shook his head, "She doesn't eat anything that's not natural or anything from a convenience store, plus I already wrote what was gonna make…"

He had a sad look on his face.

It looked as though he was trying to do mental math in his head and when he came out with his answer it was less than desirable.

Seeing him run towards the door made the #1 shake his head.

"Do you want anything?"

"Can you actually afford anything?"

There was a long pause…

"Ouch."

The boy ran out of the room.

* * *

**Present**

The door swung open and Accelerator watched as Kamijou laid sprawled on the floor.

"So how much you got left?"

With a dead look in his eyes, Kamijou dug his hand in his pocket and pulled out a few coins that totaled.

200 Yen.

To put it into perspective, a bus ride back home would normally cost him around 500 Yen, so he couldn't even afford to get himself home.

"On you?"

Kamijou shook his head, "That's all of it. Savings included."

"What the-!? How do you survive!?"

"Dedication."

"WHAT!?"

Kamijou picked himself off the floor, "It's not like I'm starving or anything if I ever need food, I could just make my way to the Gemstone Facility, although now that my bus money's gone I'm gonna have to find a new way to get there."

"How can you lose that much money. I'm pretty sure people drop more than that on the ground by accident."

"Phones. Every other couple of days I have to buy a new one because the old one broke." Kamijou sighed, "In the past, if I ever broke my phone, I would just wait a couple of weeks until my allowance came in, but now I have to call people regularly or else they'd worry so I can't wait to buy one. Add the fact that I stopped getting an allowance and you can see how I got myself here."

In truth, he only needed money for a few essentials such as money for a new phone and transportation fare.

He dusted himself off as he began to think,

If he didn't get the money in time he would be screwed. He already had a bad habit of breaking his phones so the next time he did, that would be it. He would have to come clean about his whole money situation.

He didn't want to have to owe money and he especially didn't want to be given a hand-out out of pity. He knew there were times where you should ask for help but this wasn't it.

If he couldn't even handle something as small as his own finances how could he handle anything else like being in a relationship or taking care of Index?

"(I could always get the money out of Index's account, Kanzaki did leave her a lot before she left...No, damn it! You have pride, don't you! That money is Index's! Not yours! How can you call yourself a man if you do that!)"

As he continued his thinking his train of thought was disturbed when he had a piece of paper shoved next to his face.

Catching it he saw it was a 10,000 yen bill.

"Tch. You still have that stupid look on your face. Just take it already."

"!?"

Kammijou held the bill in his hand and sighed.

In the next second, he shoved the bill back into its owner's hands.

"Take it now ...If you don't I might actually take it!"

"Are you joking right now? Just take the money."

He shook his head vigorously, "No, my pride won't let me. Not Kamijou"

"What're you spouting out?"

"How can I call myself a man if I can't deal with my own problems. Besides, I already owe you too much as it is."

"What are you talking about?"

Kamijou smiled and said, "Think about it, you helped me save Index and everything else these past couple of days. When you look back on it, I haven't really done anything to pay you back at all. So how could I call myself mature if I don't pay back my own debts."

Accelerator rolled his eyes as he took the bill back.

"So what are you gonna do? Get a job?"

"Nope, I still have to take supplementary lessons so a job is a no go. Besides the last time I got one, it didn't turn out that well."

"If you're not gonna get a job and you don't get an allowance how are you gonna get the money?"

Touma had a slight smirk on his face, "Worried, are we? Don't be, I have a friend that loves going to the Arcade if I sell him the prize I won, I can at least get 3,000 yen back."

* * *

"Sorry, Kami-yan but the answer is no."

The 180 cm tall blue-haired boy with piercing name Aogami Pierce said this with a straight face.

"C-Come on Aogami! You literally go to the arcade every other day and-"

Before Kamijou could finish he felt the blue-haired boy grabbed the collar of his shirt.

"Kami-yan! Don't pretend like you don't remember what you did to us a few days ago!"

Touma averted his eyes from his friend's gaze.

"I-_I ha_ve _no_ idea _what_ you're _talk_ing a_bo_ut."

Beams of sweat rolled down his forehead as he spoke.

Aogami sighed, "Even if I wanted to buy it I can't. I have community service remember? What's the point in buying tokens if you can't actually use them."

"Come on man! Have a heart!"

Aogami shook his head, "Just be glad you came to me instead of Tsuchimikado...you do know where he's been these last few days right?"

In truth, he had no idea what happened to Tsuchimikado. So he silently waited for his answer.

"***Sigh*** He's still waiting outside Makia's dorm room for her to accept his apology after what happened. Poor guy, I know having a sister complex is one thing but when that sister has a cold look in her eyes like she was looking at garbage whenever she sees you, has to be hell."

Sweat continued to stream down Touma's face.

"(That might be my fault.)"

"Ugh! So what the hell am I gonna do about my money problem!? I've been living like a monk these past few days and I don't know how long I can hold out!?"

Seeing his friend's pitiful state Aogami took pity.

"Kami-yan, have you heard about that rumor about the money cards?"

"Money cards?" Touma replied, confused.

"Yeah! Apparently, they're scattered across the city in out of the way places," Aogami explained, "Some have as little as 1,000 yen while others have more than 50,000 yen on them."

Touma's mouth gaped open, "W-What's the catch!?"

Aogami shook his head, "There is none, Academy City prohibits the abandonment of paper money however Money Cards are exempt. If you find one it's all yours."

He then pulled out an envelope and presented it.

"It's completely legal. I even asked Komoe-sensei about it and she said so too."

Touma hugged Aogami.

With tears in his eyes, he said, "Thank you so much! You're a true friend man! I'm so sorry about all the times I called you a perv behind your back!"

"GAK!? Kami-yan, get off me! People are getting the wrong idea! Stop petting my head!"

* * *

**Part 2**

"So you're still spreading out those money cards?" Asked Misaki

Shinobu nodded as she took out another stack.

"I embezzled over 15 million Yen from the Sister's Project for this reason. If your plan fails at least this way it someone might stumble onto a test site in one of Academy City's blindspots."

Misaki shook her head, "Whatever, just spread them all out by today, the more you go out the more at risk you are at being followed back here."

Shinobu nodded, "Alright then, I already hid over 900 cards around here so another 300 shouldn't be too hard."

* * *

Kamijou had a plan.

He would find one of those cards if it was the last thing he was going to do.

Free money was free after all and since he wasn't a **Judgement** agent, he had no obligation to turn in any cards to the authorities.

The only real problem he had to deal with was accidentally stumbling into Skill Out territory.

Though even he was unsure how that would turn out.

In the past, he always tried to avoid them as much as he could as they would either try to fight him or recruit him since he was a Level 0 but now that he was a Gemstone...what would happen.

The common rule of thumb around Academy City was that Espers didn't particularly get along with Gemstones since they never had to go through the Power Curriculum and instead were born with their powers.

Though this was a debate since a lot of students were torn between actually believing that Gemstones were real. To them, it was impossible for someone to have powers from birth and those who did believe them were usually just jealous.

Kamijou really never thought about it before he actually was named a Gemstone but how would people see him now?

In any case, Kamijou decided it would be best not to test that theory out and avoid all Skill Out members whenever possible.

However, as he reached the 2-hour mark his total haul was a resounding

**1**

Touma sighed defeatedly as he sat near a bench.

He was ecstatic when he found his first card but realized given his luck there was probably only 1000 yen on it.

Right as he was about to give up hope the universe decided it would like to take pity on this poor Kamijou.

"Kamijou-san? Is that you?"

He raised his head from the ground and saw her,

"A-Aihana? Is that you?"

She nodded, before turning to her left, "Come on Index, over here."

Right out of the corner came running out that same girl dressed in her Snow-white Nun's habit.

"Touma! I haven't seen you all day! You weren't at the hospital when I went over to check with Etsu."

Her voice held more of a whine to it than it did concern.

This wasn't due to her not caring but was because she believed that he could get himself out of any situation just fine.

Kamijou tilted his head, "Index, why are you with Aihana? And where's Mikoto? It's her turn to watch you."

Index waved him off, "Mikoto wanted to go find something with Ruiko I couldn't be bothered so I asked Etsu to come with me so we could find something fun to do."

Aihana had a concerned look on her face, "Are you okay? Weren't you just in the hospital for having your arm chopped off? Is it really alright for you to be up and about?"

Touma shrugged, "Sad to say the hospital a bit of a revolving door for me." He then raised his right arm in the air. "See."

"Talk about Hollywood healing…"

Index's eyes zeroed in on the envelope Touma had in his hands.

"Say Kamijou, I know it might be a bad time but...did you talk with Kumokawa-sempai yet?"

Touma narrowed his eyes, "How much did you spend?"

She twirled with her hair for a bit before she meekly replied, "I have 500,000 left…."

Touma's mouth gaped open, "How?"

Despondently she looked at the ground, "Ever hear of Collectors Fever?"

Touma nodded, "I'm sorry, I called her and she said she wouldn't do it."

Aihana sat down on the bench with Kamijou, with a defeated sigh.

She was currently mumbling to herself,

("Why'd I have to pre-order everything…")

Before he could say a word edgewise, he felt someone snatch the envelope from his hands.

"Touma, what's this?"

"Ohh. It's a ..."

It was an epiphany…

It was as if Touma's mind soared leaps and bounds beyond what it was capable of to come to a solution to his problems.

Yesterday when he talking to Misaka she mentioned something about Aihana that stuck out to him.

The air snapped as he turned to her.

"Hey Aihana, how would you like to make some money?"

She had a concerned look on her face as she covered her chest and slid away from him.

At first, Kamijou was confused but what she said next was…

"I-I'm not into t-that s-sort of thing."

Alarming.

"No, No, No! Nothing like that I swear!"

Touma felt a dark aura loom over at him.

"Touma…."

He slowly turned his head and saw Index begin to bare her teeth.

"No wait Index I swear to g-Wah!"

The girl bit onto Kamijou's head viciously, as if she was a predator who just saw a huge slab of meat.

"Touma's a big idiot!"

"Gyyyaahhh!?"

Kamijou cried out in despair.

* * *

**Part 3**

"So what do you say? Wanna be business partners and make money?"

Index tilted her head, "Business?"

"Yeah!" Touma loudly proclaimed, "A Business using all three of our gifts."

"Huh? W-We can really do that?"

Touma nodded, "Basically, I think you're not using your power to its fullest and it's limiting what you can do." Touma then pointed to his head, "So, I have an idea of how we can use your power to its fullest to make us all more than enough money to get by until this dry spell passes."

Aihana had a worried look on her face, "I-It's not anything illegal, right?"

Touma shook his head, "Perish the thought, this Kamijou wouldn't dream of getting a princess such as yourself into anything illegal."

"Huh?"

Index narrowed her eyes at the boy, "Touma, what're you up to?"

Touma smiled, "It's not a bad thing, and it won't cause anyone trouble."

Aihana nodded seemingly convinced,

"S-So what's the idea?"

Touma grinned, "That's where the business comes in! Just agree to give me and Index half of what we make for the '**idea fee**'."

He then pointed back at Aihana "You'll take the other half, Aihana. The three of us are gonna work together to pull off a huge project, and we can all become happy. What'd ya say?"

Aihana let her legs dangle from the bench as she thought it over…

She didn't like to say no to people and he did seem like a good person so...

"O-Okay. That's fine, but Wh-What should I do?"

He extended his right arm forward and she did the same.

After that Touma pulled out the envelope from Index's hand and handed it to Aihana.

"These have money cards inside of them. They're scattered across the city in out of the way places and if you find one it's all yours."

"So, these have money cards inside?"

Touma nodded as Aihana continued to inspect the envelope.

"Yep,"

"And it's completely legal if we take these, right?"

Touma nodded, "I wouldn't be doing it if it wasn't. You've seen Mikoto, she'd kill me if I did anything that was even remotely like breaking the law."

Aihana nodded as she continued to twirl the envelope around, inspecting every corner.

"So, what is it you want me to do?"

Touma smiled, "Mikoto mentioned that you had some sort of Clairvoyance ability."

Aihana nodded, "I can find anything as long as it's in my range."

Touma clapped his hands, "Great, you just point in the direction and this Kamijou will go fetch."

Aihana took a step back after hearing that comment, "P-Please don't talk like that."

"Sorry, just excited is all."

After a few more moments of her inspecting the envelope with the card inside she nodded.

The irises of Aihana's eyes seemed to lightly glow a bright shade of purple as she tilted her head.

"So did you find any yet?"

Aihana nodded, "I did, but let's go to the roof."

Index and Touma shared a curious look at her before following her up the stairs to an abandoned roof.

"Are there any cards here, Aihana?"

She shook her head, "I'd take too long so I was just gonna grab them in one big go."

Touma's eyes widened, "W-What?"

Aihana scratched her head, "The range for me to use my full power is 200 meters so anything past that and my power would get weaker, but since all I'm doing is grabbing this envelope that has a Money Card inside, I should be able to yank them from over 2km."

Touma stepped back in shock, "Wait so you're saying-"

As her irises glowed a bright shade of violet, Aihana extended her arm outwards over the side of the roof.

"_**(Found one!)"**_

A few seconds passed by and an envelope came barreling towards them.

"I-Index keep count, okay?"

Index nodded.

"_**(Found one!)"**_

Aihana's eyes widened, "Wow get ready Index. A lot of them are coming our way now."

All of their eyes widened as they saw a swarm of Envelopes come hurtling towards them.

* * *

Mikoto sighed as she followed her friend into another alley.

"Saten, can you at least get off your hands and knees when looking for them, you don't know the last time a cleaning robot came down here."

Saten chuckled as she made her way back onto her feet.

"Sorry, Misaka I'm just really hyped. After my dream of being able to fly was taken from me I needed an outlet."

Mikoto shook her head, "Just be mindful, okay."

Saten nodded, "Don't worry Misaka I will, besides we already found over 7 cards."

Mikoto raised an eyebrow, "You do realize you're gonna have to give those to Uiharu, right?"

Saten sighed, " I know ...but can I just keep one?"

"_**(Found one!)"**_

Mikoto shook her head, "You already know what Kuroko would say if she found out that you kept them."

"B-But it's not illegal to have."

"Just because it's not illegal, doesn't make it right"

She then extended her arm outwards towards Saten.

"Hand them over."

Saten sighed dejectedly as she reached in her back pocket…

"Huh!? They're gone!"

"Saten!"

Saten raised her arms defensively, "M-Misaka I swear, I don't have them anymore. I put them in my back pocket and now they're gone!"

Misaka raised an eyebrow, "Fine, where do you think you dropped them?"

* * *

Shinobu Nunotaba was beginning to feel tired as the weight of her messenger bag was starting to get to her.

While each card weighs less than an ounce, she still had a total of 300 cards with her. Normally she wouldn't dare bring out this many at once as it would only increase the chance of her getting caught, but she also didn't dare deny what the #5 wanted since she could literally end her with a push of a button.

Add in the fact that she had to walk through the back alleys and had to circle around a building 5 times before even considering entering the alley behind it and you have a recipe for a good exercise.

She finally came upon a spot where she thought was secure, an area behind an air conditioning unit and opened up her bag to place it.

"_**(Found one!)"**_

Once she did, she finally stretched out her arms over her head. It was going to be a long night. She couldn't very well go out in the middle of the day, and risk being seen so she waited until sunset to place the cards.

After finishing, she went to pick up her messenger bag and felt that it was light.

"What the…"

When she opened the bag all the envelopes inside were missing.

She spun her head all around the alley, trying to see if anyone followed her but was shocked to see that she was completely alone.

Out of a gut feeling, she went to check the air conditioning unit where she hid the envelope.

It was gone.

Shinobu held her head in frustration, "Damn it…"

* * *

The Level 5 and **SCHOOL** member, known as Kakine Teitoku was in District 7

It was an area that was home to both the Middle and High Schools of Academy City something he was still a part of.

While he had been attending an elite school, he was just as relieved when summer break came around too.

This wasn't for the reason you'd expect them to be no, like any high schooler he had trouble balancing his personal life (SCHOOL) and school life.

While he was one of the 7 Level 5s of Academy City and could afford to miss school every now and again he still had to keep up appearances as to not stir up any trouble.

If a Level 5 such as himself decided that they weren't going to go to attend school then the City would monitor him closer as they would classify him as a risk.

This was something he hated.

That feeling of being watched.

While he knew that it came with the territory, he hated the fact that at any moment the City itself could choose to when to do it.

It especially annoyed him since his work in SCHOOL required him to be outside of the City's view.

If he wanted to achieve his dream he had to find some sort of leverage before the summer ended.

"Hey, Kakine look at this."

A voice reached Kakine's ears, and when he turned to look there was a fellow member of SCHOOL

She usually wore an elegant dress as her side job was compensated dating but today she was wearing a snow-white blouse with jeans along with a beret colored wine red, personally he found her side job distasteful but he wasn't about to criticize someone else when it didn't directly affect him.

He was never the type to judge people based on such meaningless things.

As long as she did her job whatever she does in her spare time is her business.

Though in the past she claimed that it helped her practice her ability.

"What is it?"

She waved what looked like an envelope in her hand.

"Apparently someone is scattering these around the city for some reason."

Kakine had a curious look on his face as he inspected the envelope.

He wasn't foreign to Dark Side Techniques, so he immediately deduced that whoever was distributing these were probably trying to gain the mass's attention.

What a ridiculous idea.

The premise was sound if the public saw something that they weren't supposed to see then Academy City would be forced to purge whatever it was in order to save face.

Though the problem laid in the premise itself.

'If the public'

It wouldn't be the 'public' who saw what they weren't supposed to see, it would be a stray individual.

Someone who could be dealt with quickly and silently, whether that be through having a telepath erase their memories or by being killed outright.

"..."

The girl simply shrugged him off.

"There's a rumor going around that says if you find one you can make a wish and it might come true."

Kakine shook his head, "Ridiculous."

"Humor me."

Kakine sighed, "..."

"Well?"

"You don't tell people your wish if you want it to come true."

"_**(Found one!)"**_

Her eyes widened, right as he was about to place the envelope back in her hands...

The envelope ripped itself out of his hands and into the air.

A smile appeared on Kakine's lips.

"Now this is interesting."

* * *

Touma's mouth gaped open as he saw it was raining envelopes.

It was like an artificial blizzard with the sheer amount of envelopes coming their way.

After a few seconds, the envelopes began to pile up and cover up the ground itself.

"Th-They just keep piling up one after the other! I count over 300 already Etsu!"

Touma jumped for joy, "Wh-What an awesome power! You really are the best Level five Aihana!"

Aihana smiled, she enjoyed being praised even if it was over the smallest things.

After a few more seconds, the blizzard stopped.

After regrouping the members looked to Index to get the final count.

"It's 444….wow that's a lucky blessing."

Touma hugged Aihana

"I can't believe it! You're amazing!"

Aihana could only weakly reply, "K-Kamijou you're squeezing me to death."

While having a versatile power, the #6 had a frail body, so much so that she was actually starting to lose consciousness.

Seeing her struggle Touma immediately let go.

"Sorry about that!" Touma couldn't contain his excitement so he went to go hug Index who was currently trying to back away.

"No, Touma w-wait- Gwah!"

After a bear hug, he let her go.

"We did it! Let's go get our money!"

* * *

**Part 4**

"I-Index, do you think Kamijou is okay?

"I-I don't know."

The two girls said this as they were hiding behind a nearby post trying their best to not only stay hidden but to also see inside the store.

Though they were at least succeeding in one of their goals.

No one in the street seemed to notice that the two girls were hiding behind the post.

Aihana sighed.

They had to exchange the cards for money since each of them carrying over 222 cards on them would only cause them more problems down the road. So they decided to exchange their cards for cash and then transfer it into another account. Kamijou's bank account for his share, and a Money Card for her since her bank account was frozen.

The plan was that they each had to go inside with 222 cards each to draw less attention to themselves...but in the end, she chickened out.

She was basically having an anxiety attack just at the prospect of having to go into the bank by herself add on the fact that she was gonna be stared at for bringing over 222 cards and she froze in place.

Seeing this Kamijou took pity on her and decided to go in by himself with all 444 cards.

He said he'd take care of everything and to leave it to him.

She was nervous, not only because he was all alone in the bank with everyone in the building watching him with cold eyes but also because she didn't want him to get in trouble for having that many cards.

While Kamijou told her it was legal, she had heard in the past that the bank can refuse to exchange your money over the smallest reason and if you tried to argue you'd be arrested.

Seeing Aihana's worried expression, Index patted her on her back,

"Don't worry Aihana. Believe in Touma."

After a few minutes, they saw the door to the bank swing open with Kamijou on the other side.

He had a serious expression on his face as he spotted and walked over to them.

"K-Kamijou, h-how'd it go? T-They didn't get mad at you, did they?"

Kamijou nodded, "Yeah they were all pretty upset at me for bringing that many cards…"

Index frowned as she began to tug on her robes, "W-What happened in their Touma?"

Touma sighed as he clutched his head,

"Something unexpected actually happened in their…"

Aihana frowned, she didn't want someone to get into trouble for her...

Index swallowed her breath, "S-Something unexpected?"

Touma solemnly nodded.

Still clutching his head, he looked at the two girls…

.

.

.

.

.

.

"IT UNEXPECTEDLY TURNED INTO **7 MILLION YEN**!"

"GYAH!"

"Hieee!"

[̲̅¥(̲̅ ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°̲̅)̲̅¥]

Mouth still gaping open, Touma placed a bank card into Aihana's hand.

"Here you go! It's real!"

"H-How?"

Kamijo smiled as he rubbed the back of his head, "They were pretty upset when I brought that many cards in, but after I managed to tell them I wasn't planning on exchanging it for cash they were cool with it."

He then poked at her card. "This has about 3.5 million Yen on it. I don't how long Senpai is gonna freeze your bank account for and I don't know how long it will be until I get another allowance so let's try to spend our money sparingly, okay?"

Aihana smiled as she hugged him

"Thank you so much Kamijou!"

Touma smiled, "Let's all go celebrate! Index you pick."

Index's face beamed, "Really!?"

Touma nodded, he was just gonna use Index's card to pay for her meal.

He'd pay for the Aihana's and his meal.

"Yep!"

"Hooray! I want you to cook for me, Touma!"

"That works too I guess!"

* * *

**Part 5**

As the three of them continued to make their way back to Touma's Dorm he found himself remembering something,

"Say, Aihana, are you doing anything tomorrow?"

"You wanna do this again?"

Touma shook his head, "No I was wondering if you wanted to go to a party."

Her eyes lit up, "I've never been to a party before."

Index nodded, "We're planning on throwing Yuki a welcome back for when he gets out of the hospital."

A look of concern soon made its way to her face, "I-Isn't he...I don't know...he just doesn't seem the type to appreciate a surprise party."

Touma shrugged, "Don't worry I'll be there. Besides, he might be a little rough around the edges but he's a good person. You've seen the way he treats Index, right?"

Aihana nodded.

He did seem to treat her better than he did most people.

"So do you wanna come?"

After some debates inside her head, Aihana finally landed on her answer.

"Yes."

Touma smiled, "Great."

"Touma…."

Kamijou looked over at Index who was currently staring up in the sky.

"What's wrong, Index?"

"Y-You said we weren't doing anything illegal, right?"

He nodded, "Yeah, why?"

She gulped as she pointed her finger towards the sky.

Panic filled her voice as she spoke, "Th-Then why is there an angel here?"

Up in the air, they all saw him.

A teenager who had what looked to be six wings!

Six wings like that of an angel's slowly spread behind him as he descended towards them.

"Sorry to bother you all, but it seems fate had decided to bring me here."

Seeing this unbelievable sight Kamijou asked, "Um... may I ask who you are?"

"Kakine Teitoku."

He then looked over at the girl with indigo-colored hair currently trying to hide behind Kamijou.

"And who might you be?"

These were Academy City's #2 and #6.

Two individuals who should not have met yet...


	34. Chapter 34 Angel of Science

**Hey guys Thanks for reading Certain Scientific Counter! Thank you for everyone who left a review and I'd like to thank my Beta-Reader Graeskog for helping me edit this chapter. Sorry about the delay but I got slammed by college and had 4 different essays due in the same week so I didn't have much free time to finish this chapter. In fact, I was halfway done with it when my professors announced the essays. I'll try my best to update every week or so. Thank you for sticking by me and without further ado Q&A,**

**D. N Works - Their entrance into the story will be a bit more dramatic than that. And yeah Touma I thought something bad would happen too when he got...whats that, the #2 says he got something to say? And Shinobu didn't put that much effort, she only put one envelope down for the day until all the rest got snatched away from her. I'd feel bad for Saten since she lost her hard day's work. Thank you for the comment.**

**RoachVit- Not really, would take away from the suspense if I gave any hints like that.**

**RoachVit- Fixed it! Thanks for finding it for me. No matter how many times I read the thing over I always seem to miss something.**

**God of Eternal Strife- Indeed.**

**Fortitude501- Hard work determination and a can-do attitude. Though now his suffering and ingenuity has got him out of the red and into possession of millions of yen. And you'd assume so, but let's be honest he the type of guy to brush people's existences if they don't interest him enough.**

**Chris- Thanks for the clarification!**

**Chris- Yes the budding relationship in the works. Though due to his own bad luck and his own mindset he couldn't tell that she would actually be interested in him. Though when she doesn't get a response back she freaks out. And Senpai with the new kindling for the win. And breakfast in bed. A misunderstanding from the #2 of the clique combined with shirtless Touma makes for a hell of a time. And we get Touma's day which was a bit more stressful thanks to his money problems. And yes murphy's law for Touma everything that could've of gone wrong has gone wrong. Now with the #2 aware of this Imagine breaker boy's existence things will really start to derail from what they were originally. Thank you for the support as always and thank you for your review!**

**tsun- Yes now we have the Dark Matter on the scene to deal with.**

**Aminadab Brulle- As always Murphy's Law is always applicable when Touma is around. He should've known that going after any amount of money would lead to bad things. If it took 7 million yen to summon the #2 I could only imagine what more would bring. I'm glad I was able to bring some entertainment to your day especcially with classes beginning to start up again. I really like your skit! Thank you for your comment.**

**nameless- Cliffhangers make you come back for more. Yes, a blast from the past from Misaki's attempts to court Kamijou. And breakfast in bed after, Misaki id get lucky with him didn't she. And if the nurses had time to react they totally would've snatched a pic of shirtless Touma. And poor Touma indeed with everything going on with him its a pity he doesn't ask for help. And the aftermath of the Midsummer festival still going on strong! At least now Touma is covered with his expense..what's that the #2 wants to see him!? And I like your thought on the list. Although who is number 0? Is it Kamijou? Anyways thank you for the review!**

**Chris - I tried to make their relationship as organic as possible. Now that he can actually remember Misaki and how she understands his predicament with misfortune she understands him and trusts him to almost a fault believing everything he says. And yeah no one really has sympathy for the guy who tried to break into a girls dorm just for some practice.**

**BlueJack22- Indeed. And it was Miskai's dream.**

**NNeko- LEt's find out. And yeah in continuity she was the first person to see the clones.**

**JeaSonDash- Thank you so much for your support!**

**linkjames24- Thank you for your comment. I tried to make some background to their relationship.**

* * *

**Angel of Science**

"Daww~such a moving story, two Gemstones, the last of their kind, together in an attempt to save their kind. It's like Adam and Eve, right?"

Index shook her head, "That's not how the talented ones are born."

"Ohh, then how are they born?"

"I don't know."

Kakine a Level 5 shook his head at the situation before him.

He looked around his surroundings,

They say you can tell a lot about a person from their bookshelf, this one was just filled with manga, Light novels, there were some textbooks but the dust had accumulated around it to show that there was not much use in having it.

* * *

**Part 1**

**Earlier**

"TOUMA WE HAVE TO PROSTRATE OURSELVES!"

As a member of the Darkside of Academy, Kakine had seen a lot of things in his life. Still, a Nun bowing before him was a first.

"Index get off the ground!"

The Nun leaped onto the boy forcing all of her weight to his head to force him to the ground.

"Touma! An angel has incompressible power! We have to submit!"

The sight of a petit Nun forcing down a highschool student to the ground was enough to send even Kakine into silence.

"Ummm...I-I-I-I"

The stuttering girl wasn't helping the situation either.

After managing to wrestle the Nun off of him, the teenager before Kakine stood again, albeit with a Nun holding onto his leg.

"Hi, sorry about Index. My name names Kamijou Touma, how are you doing?"

"Is she biting your leg?" Kakine asked.

Kamijou nodded as he tried to shake her off.

"I see," replied Kakine in a voice completely void of interest.

His attention then turned to the same girl who was still stuttering!

"Words. Do you know how to use them?"

The girl who was stuttering was now curling her long hair with her fingers.

"I uh...um..your wings...are pretty…"

"Are you making fun of me?"

"Huh? No. They're actually really pretty."

"..."

As Touma's gaze met with the 6 angelic wings on the teenager's back, something in the back of his mind told him to touch it.

So he extended his hand over and…

"TOUMA NOO!"

***THWAM***

Immediately was slammed into the ground by Index.

Laying face first in the gravel, with Index's full body weight on his head Touma sighed.

"Such Misfortune…"

"Hey Kakine where'd you run off to…..Spiky black-haired boy?"

Forcing his head back up, Touma turned his direction to the new voice.

Walking casually towards them was the same girl he had met at his time working at the restaurant. While she was dressed differently her ruby red eyes stuck out to him.

Finally managing to push Index off of him, he stood up once more.

"I have a name you know."

She widened her eyes for a bit before replying, "Me too."

"...Touche."

"You know this guy?" Kakine asked.

She nodded, "Yeah, he was our server when we went to go eat at that restaurant a couple of days ago, don't you remember?"

"Of course not. What kind of person remembers details as small as that."

The blonde girl's attention immediately drew towards the indigo haired girl who was stuttering and the small Nun who was bowing down before Kakine, "Ah...I see."

Kakine raised an eyebrow, "What's that supposed to mean?"

She shrugged, "Don't know." She then turned to face the boy who she had met earlier, "Say do happen to know anything about an 'envelope'...this big, that got taken away by the wind?"

The #6 and the misfortunate boy immediately tensed up at hearing that statement, right as they were about to say something….

"OH FATHER WHO ART IN HEAVEN HOWL THY NAME, FORGIVE OUR SIN AND FORGIVE TOUMA AND ETSU FOR STEALING ALL OF THOSE CARDS!"

"Don't act like you didn't have anything to do with it!"

Index averted her eyes at her friend's glare, "I don't know what you're talking about…."

Meow….

Kakine stared in disbelief at the Nun, "Is that a cat?"

"Yes, his name is Sphinx oh angel of heaven! Blessed he who-"

Ignoring Index's ramblings, the blonde turned her attention to the boy once more, "Oh, so you were the ones who took it...neat."

"Eh? Aren't you mad?"

She shook her head, "Not particularly."

The two culprits sighed in relief.

"You still haven't told me your name yet…"

The #6 rubbed the back of her head sheepishly, "Oh sorry...My name's Aihana Etsu, it's nice to meet you."

Kakine narrowed his eyes a bit at the girl, "Aihana Etsu? That name sounds vaguely familiar to me…" He started to tap his foot.

The girl with red eyes tapped Touma of the shoulder, "Say, how'd you manage to grab the envelope? We spent nearly an hour trying to find where you guys were with no luck. I think we looked around a good 1km before giving up and hitting the banks to try and track you down like that."

"Oh…." Touma blushed, her face was directly in front of his and her ruby red eyes were looking directly into his,

***SHATTER***

She tilted her head a bit looking confused.

"Can I ask what level you are?"

"Oh, I don't have a Level anymore, I'm a Gemstone."

"Huh, I've never seen one of you guys in person before."

"Wait a minute," Kakine turned his attention back onto Aihana, "What are you?"

"I'm a Diamond." She nonchalantly answered.

Kakine furrowed his brow, "Diamond?…."

As Kakine was used to the usual SYSTEM grading he was unaware of how Gemstones were graded.

Aihana looked at the confused teenager and clarified, "It's just the way we Gemstones grade each other, if you translate it into SYSTEM it'd be Level 5 if that helps you understand."

Kakine stared at the girl, "Level 5…..That's it, you're the #6, aren't you?"

She nodded

Kakine Teitoku went silent.

"Heh, I've never seen another Level 5 before today. Nice to meet you, I'm Dark Matter."

"I thought you were Kakine Teitoku?" she joked….

"..."

"..."

"..."

There was a dead silence.

"Heh, That's funny."

That was immediately broken by the blonde.

Kakine Teitoku directed his gaze from the #6 to the nun named Index.

"You can get off the ground now, it's starting to freak me out."

Slowly lifting her head Index saw that the six angelic wings had dissipated from the teenagers back.

She gasped, "What? But...you're not an angel! The wings of a Seraphim don't disappear like that!"

"Of course I'm not, though I'm surprised you actually know what they were. Most people would just assume they were a regular angel, though looking at your wardrobe, I guess it's to be expected."

The small nun looked red in the face as she grabbed the hands of both the #6 and Kamijou.

"Come on, let's go!" She huffed, "We've been played for a fool long enough. I wanna go eat."

"That's perfect we were just going to get something to eat."

Kamijou froze.

"A-Actually we were just…"

The blonde tilted her head and looked him directly in the eyes, "What? Don't tell me, after all this, you won't invite us over ...well I guess it can't be helped, I'll just have to call Judgement and tell them…"

"Ok, Ok, Ok! You guys can come along!"

Kakine sighed,

She really was a villain.

* * *

**Part 2**

Once Kakine arrived at the shabby looking Dormitory he couldn't help but snort.

He lived in a high-class dorm with accommodations that would make the run-down building look as though it should be condemned.

After entering Kamijou's room the oddest thing stuck out to him, his room was twice the size of the others, and it had its own kitchen.

It wasn't a regular kitchen mind you, like the ones that were standard in every dorm, no, this one looked as though it belonged in an actual restaurant.

After he sat them both down at the counter he saw as the small Nun jumped towards the TV. She was watching some dumb cartoon or something as she yelled out her order as though she really was at a restaurant.

What an odd child.

Kamijou took all their orders and got to work in his kitchen all the while mumbling something to himself.

As the others got accommodated, he watched as Measure Heart got situated with the self-proclaimed #6.

Surprisingly she managed to get the girl talking, something that she wasn't on the way here.

The only real reason he even came was to get some information on the #6.

Seeing that their conversation came to an end Kakine turned to Measure Heart.

"You two seem offly chummy,"

She shrugged, "She's a lot like Rakko, though even she wasn't this shy."

"Rakko…"

It hasn't been that long since he had recruited Yumiya Rakko to join SCHOOL but in the short time that she was there he hadn't spoken to her much if at all.

"I tried using my powers on her to speed things along, but it didn't work."

The #2 eyes slightly widened, "Hoh, is that so," Being a Psychokinetic is one thing, but being able to block off telepathic attacks was another.

"Yeah, it's the same with Kamijou, do you think all Gemstones are like that?"

Kakine looked as though he was in deep thought,

He had never truly taken an interest in Gemstones in the past mainly due to them merely being a rumor of fiction.

They were people who had abilities that were not unlocked by Academy City. A single Gemstone was priceless for scientists.

Could it be that they were useful for Aleister's Plan?

"Perhaps, before we didn't know that Gemstones were a real thing, all we had to go through as reference was the #7. All in all, this day has been very educational."

Soon enough the Nun could hear the burners turn off in the Kitchen and ran to the seat closest to the #6.

Measure Heart and she had some outrageous conversation about the creation of Gemstones that really didn't end in a meaningful way.

Once the food was out, the massacre began.

The Nun began consuming plates by the spoonful, and after 2 minutes, 5 plates were consumed.

The glutenous sight before him was foreign, even unknown to Dark Matter

"How is she doing that?"

"Blackhole stomach trope." Answered the #6 nonchalantly

Measure Heart's eyes widened, "Is that her Gemstone ability?"

Good question.

He had also wondered what that nun's limit was given how many plates she was devouring in quick succession.

The nun was also holding a calico cat, but it must not have been hungry because it showed no interest in the food. Only meowing every once in a while when a stray shot of rice or pepper pegged it in the face.

Dark Matter watched the scene of gluttony before him and turned his attention to the #6 who was watching in interest at Nun.

"Not to sound crass, but what exactly is your ability?"

Aihana shoulders jumped in surprise at being called out, "Oh, gravity."

Kakine furrowed his brows, "Gravity? Like what? Manipulating the number of Gravitons to matter?"

The term manipulating gravity was vague at best since the branches that came out of it.

One example that came to his mind was the Graviton Bomber. He had heard about that incident from a contact of his but chose not to get involved, someone who was that weak was not worth his time and in the end, the #3 was the one to take care of it.

So he was right.

Aihana shook her head, "It's more complex than that. My Gravity allows me to repulse anything that comes at me."

The crimson eyed blond girl tilted her head, "Like telepathy?"

Aihana nodded, "Anything. As long as it's been used against me once before it won't be able to be used against me again."

"An Omni adaptable shield? So anything you've seen once can be blocked?" Kakine appeared interested.

"Yeah, like for example someone used telepathy on me before so my shield automatically blocks off any telepathy. Though it doesn't really stack up well against manipulation type abilities."

"Intriguing. So if you were to come across something you didn't see before, it could get past your shield?"

She nodded, "Yeah, but only if it could get past the other defenses first. By the way, what's your Power? I've never seen anything like it before. Your wings, they were out of this world"

Kakine smiled to himself boastfully, "Since you shared your ability with me it's only fair that I do the same. I can create wings out of Dark Matter things that did not exist in the world previously."

He lied, of course, his power was more versatile than that.

"Ahh! That makes sense, That's why my senses were getting all tingly."

Kakine's smile was gone.

"What are you talking about?"

"My ability, if it hasn't seen something before then it automatically adapts to it. That's how I knew that whatever it was that those wings were made of were out of this world."

The look on his face said everything.

"What're you saying?"

She tilted her head, "My defense, it adapts to anything that it hasn't seen before…."

The atmosphere of the room changed.

It was now filled with tension as the #2 glared at the #6.

If what she was insinuating was true, then…

"..."

"...I have the best defense.."

* * *

The girl in the dress, who was not currently wearing a dress sighed,

She knew very well what the change in the atmosphere meant.

While she was one to fight if the situation called for it, she was not the one to carelessly throw away her life over something as trivial as this.

Turning her head she saw the #6 and grabbed something from the table.

In one quick but slow-motion she closed in on the #6.

She could see that the room had gone quiet at her sudden action.

Before the #6 could even finish her sentence she stuck a spoonful of food in her mouth

In a tone quite enough for her to hear, she spoke, "You'll thank me later."

After letting go of the poor girl, the #6 started slowly choking on her forced meal.

The #2 rolled his eyes as he watched as the #6 struggle to swallow.

As if someone as pathetic as that could block his powers.

Slowly the room began to go back to normal, with the exception of the #6 still passed out.

"Hey ...Teitoku?"

"Hmph?" Surprised, Kakine turned his gaze to the Nun staring at him with curious eyes, "My names Kakine Teitoku, though since you're American I guess you would use first names."

"I'm English!"

"...Same thing…"

"No, it's not!"

"Yes, it is!"

"No, it's not!"

Ignoring that.

"...What did you want to ask?"

The Nun had an annoyed look on her face, "You're wings, there based on a Seraphim, correct?"

Kakine had a curious look on his face as he replied, "Yeah."

"Huh, I didn't know they taught that sort of thing in Academy City."

Kakine shook his head, "They don't."

"Then how'd you learn about it?"

"...None of your business." He coldly replied.

Recalling that, was something he'd rather not do.

"Alright, then which Seraphim did you base them off of? Raguel, Raphael, Remiel Uriel. Zerachie? Whoever taught you it should've given you a name, right?"

The blonde girl shook her head slowly clutching her head as Kakine was about to give his answer.

"I based them off of the morning star."

"Morning Star?"

There was a long silence.

It seemed as though Index was in deep thought.

"Do you mean ...that angel?"

Kakine's gaze zeroed in on Index's expression.

"Yeah."

The others in the room seemed confused as the two looked at each other.

Index crossed her arms and stared at the boy.

"You do know how the story ended, right?"

Unflinching he responded

"I'm aware."

"Idiot..."

The blonde started to sweat…

So, so close…

Kakine holds his imposing gaze just as is, not so much as twitching, looking on as Index slings abuse at him.

She wouldn't be surprised if he killed her right now, with that-

-refreshed expression?

"Hoh? Is that right?"

"I can't think of any other word to call you. Did you even understand the story?"

"I have, the tale where the 'all-powerful being' tries to force his plan on someone and that someone decides to push back."

Index sighed, "Alright then, while I have some pretty strong opinions on that I won't force you to change what's already done ...Though one piece of advice, if you know the story and know how it ends, be sure you don't fall."

With a snide tone, he replied, "As if I would fail."

The room looked confused,

Except for one individual who seemed rather annoyed.

"What's with that reaction? When I said something about that you went off at me."

Casting her a sideways glance he responded, "That's because you based your response on a forum you found on the internet, what's the point in having a conversation with someone who can't even read deeper on a real issue."

The blonde still seemed unsatisfied with that response.

"!?"

"What's wrong."

Without a word, Kakine stood up from his chair and heading towards the room's exit.

"I'll be back."

Seeing that the #2 left, Kamijou sighed.

"Is he always like that?"

"Yeah, you get used to it though. Hey so how much did you end up getting on that card?"

Kamijou swallowed his breath.

He looked over to Aihana who had a similar expression on her face.

"I-It wasn't that much…."

This was much more of a lie to himself than a lie to her. He had headed in the past of people flamboyantly spend a fortune as though there isn't a tomorrow. So to say his earning were minuscule in comparison wasn't-

"Touma…"

Index cut off Touma's mumble.

Touma could only stare on in horror at Index who corrected his mistake.

"I wouldn't call 7 million yen something so casual."

In the background, he could hear someone whistle.

"Wow."

There was a hint of envy in that comment.

Kamijou wouldn't be surprised if she asked for the money back right here and now.

He already knew he was fighting against the universe itself when he first got this ludicrous amount and he was just waiting for the other shoe to fall.

With a heavy heart, he went into his back pocket to grab his wallet.

He planned to beg the girl to let Aihana keep her share since it was his fault in the first place for coming up with the idea.

"So what're you gonna spend the money on?"

"Huh!?"

Those were the first words to come out of her mouth.

"Y-You aren't mad Ojou-sama? A-Are you actually that rich that 7 million Yen mean nothing to you? You did have that nouveau riche look to you."

The girl simply shrugged, "Thanks for the compliment? But Nah, if I were to be upset at everything that didn't go my way then I'd never really be happy." She then turned her head to look at the nearly barren landscape called his room. "Besides from the looks of it..."

She didn't need to finish that sentence.

"You're such a nice person!"

"So, you didn't answer my question."

Kamijou quickly snapped out of it and nodded.

"Sorry! I was just planning on putting it in savings."

"What a boring life you lead."

* * *

**Part 3**

No sooner than they had finished eating did Kakine come back into the room and called out to...Measure Heart?

"We're leaving."

"Right now?"

"Right now."

She pouted, slightly annoyed but complied.

Kamijou and company could only imagine that that was the name of her ability rather than her real name.

What a poor thing if that was her real name.

They all said their goodbyes (except Kakine) and both of them left.

"Touma, Touma, this paper,"

Kamijou could only sigh as he saw Index rummaging through the various cardboard boxes in his room.

He had never really gotten around to unpacking everything in his room and because of that, the room had an atmosphere of a storage facility than an actual room with one corner of it having boxes stacked up to the ceiling of the room.

"Index it's just a bunch of-"

Halfway through, the sound was suddenly cut off from Kamijou's mouth.

Wearing a shocked expression, he stared at the words on the paper that Index had passed over.

"Ah... eh? Wait, what does it say on here?"

"Eh? Let me have a look... It says 'Summer Vacation Homework Math Problems'. Kamijou-san, can't you read that well?"

Kamijou's thought process completely froze before he sighed in relief.

He remembered he had actually finished his summer homework during his stay at the hospital.

This summer vacation had been very dramatic and fantasy-like for Kamijou to the point where it had been like a show. But of all his memories, he vaguely remembered staying up for nights on end with nothing to do except this.

He threw the finished homework in the air and cheered.

"Hahaha. The universe must be getting rusty if they think this can bring me down!"

"Touma, why is your tone of speech a bit weird? And who are you talking to?"

"Erm...Kamijou-san…"

The two of them watched as Aihana stared grimly at the papers in her hand.

"It's all wrong."

"Eh?"

These were the only words to come out of the now pale-faced Highschooler.

"...All of it, it's wrong."

She then presented the paper in question to Kamijou.

_Name- Kamiko Touya_

"Your name…"

The two girls could only stare at the boy they believed to be a Buffon with what looked to be pity in their eyes.

His own name….

He misspelled his own name….

Quickly reading through the rest of the questions he could see every mistake in every problem.

Perhaps doing homework when you weren't in the best state of mind wasn't the best idea.

"Such Misfortune!"

* * *

"So, what were you really trying to accomplish here?"

"...I was actually trying to see about recruiting the #6, a level 5 psychokinetic isn't something you see every day."

"Ooh. Are you really trying to replace Yobou-san?"

"Tch. Don't be ridiculous. Besides after spending even a modicum of my time with her I can already tell she wouldn't meet up to the standards ...still-"

Kakine passed a sideways glance towards the next-door dorm.

"It's the weirdest thing...I could've sworn I heard someone eavesdrop on us."

"Really? I didn't feel anything."

"Maybe, but that doesn't make what I found make any more sense."

Kakine stole a glance at the object in his hands.

"In any case, I'll have to look a bit more closely on these Gemstones. If the rumors are true than Accelerator was recently hospitalized by one. I never thought they were real, to begin with, but after seeing those two... "

The time was 3.00 PM

"Do you think it was one of them?"

"...No, something else is going on here. For now, let's focus our attention on trying to find if Accelerator really is in the hospital. Knowing Aleister all the evidence of his admittance was probably wiped clean."

The blonde spoke while looking at Kakine.

"Does that mean you're giving up on the Dark May Project route?"

"No, but that can change if we can figure out how he was sent there in the first place."

Kakine Teitoku stared down at the hand that was carrying the object he had lifted from the neighbor's residence and calmly smiled.

"...Gemstones, huh?"

* * *

**Part 4**

Saten Ruiko and Misaka Mikoto were sitting inside an open-air café.

"I'm telling you Misaka, it was a ghost!"

The #3 sighed.

The two had spent the better half of the day wandering back alleys in the hopes of collecting the mysterious money cards. In truth Misaka only joined so Saten wouldn't run into any unscrupulous individuals in her pursuit.

Though now a part of her wished that she simply left after they lost their cards.

They say that grief has 7 stages and from what Misaka was seeing this seemed to be true.

At first, Saten was shocked by the loss of her cards.

After that, she started saying some very unladylike things to the people she had thought had stolen them from right under her.

After that, she begged Misaka to join her in trying to find more cards.

Ever since then Saten had dragged her everywhere in the hopes of just finding one last card that held no avail.

It seemed that there was either a shortage of cards or the masses had already found all of them.

After a while, she seemed to go into a depression and Misaka had brought her over to a café in the hopes of cheering her up.

Once there she started trying to find solutions to her problem.

She started suspecting that the culprit was ghosts and suggested that they contact Index for assistance which Mikoto quickly shot down.

Knowing that girl she would believe that statement and grow a newfound paranoia of ghosts in this city of Technology.

"*Sigh* I guess that's it. Thanks for coming with me Misaka it was really fun."

"Acceptance?"

"What was that?"

"N-Nothing!"

Saten could only lean back on her chair and watch the sky.

"Man, I hope Index and Yuki had better luck."

"?"

There was that name again.

Misaka had heard that name time and time again and yet never actually met the person who it belonged to.

From what she understood he was a friend of Kamijou and was rather strong having defeated Theristina by himself.

"Hey Saten, what's this Yuki guy like?"

"Hm? Well...how do I put this…..He's kind of intimidating at first when I first met him I nearly fainted."

"Was he really that intense."

Saten nodded.

"It's not like he looks all that intimidating, he's a bit shorter than Kamijou, it's just that he….how do I explain it...it's like if he wanted to he could blow me up, you know?"

"Nope, but from what you're describing, I could only imagine that he's a high-level esper."

Saten shrugged, "Maybe when I asked him about it he said, 'stop bothering me with dumb questions' and walked off with Index.

"Heh? Are you just saying you just left Index with this random guy?"

"I-It's not like that! It's just...Index wanted to go to the hospital to visit Kamijou and since Yuki is staying there we popped in to visit and that was when I found my first card ..."

"..."

"H-He's not a bad guy. So it's not like I just dropped him off on some stranger! Stop looking at me like I'm some sort of villain here!"

Misaka raised her head…

She was going to say something but stopped herself.

"Alright fine. I guess I'm just a bit on edge since I woke up today."

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. It's just a dream I had last night was weird."

Saten seemed to perk up.

"They say that some dreams are actually warning of what's to come in the future."

"Where'd you get that, Index?"

Saten nodded.

Well damn, it really was legit.

"It's getting pretty late."

Saten nodded.

"Yeah we should get going, I don't want Index to get home before me, knowing her she'd probably eat through the fridge."

Misaka could only let out a small smile.

This was a good day.

* * *

**Part 5**

"Say Kamijou-san, I'm gonna head back home. I'll take Index back to Saten's place too."

"Bye, Touma!"

The moment that they had left the room Kamijou sighed.

The light outside was beginning to fade as night began to take hold of the city.

Looking at the sheets of paper in front of him he couldn't help but feel his inner procrastination call out to him.

He had before him two options.

Option 1. Do the homework now and be done with it.

Option 2. Leave this problem for Tomorrow and finally clean his room.

Doing both would be possible but he wouldn't be able to get any sleep and he knew what happened when he went without too much sleep.

It was like choosing the lesser between two evils.

Right as he was about to make a decision, he could hear something that caught his attention.

***BAM**BAM**BAM**BAM***

Someone was pounding on his front door like there was no tomorrow, seeing the time Kamijo couldn't imagine who this person could be.

It wouldn't be a delivery man since he would always buy everything himself to save money.

Before Kamijou had even opened the door an inch it was pushed open.

"T-Tsuchimikado?"

Tsuchimikado Motoharu: Kamijou's next-door neighbor, and his classmate. He was wearing an aloha shirt and shorts. Light blue sunglasses covered his eyes. Dangling on his neck was a gold chain that matched the outfit of delinquents.

"What're you doing here!? And what's with barging in here?"

Before he even had a chance to talk he felt the collar of his shirt get tugged on.

"Kami answer honestly! Did you break into my room!?"

"Heh?"

Kamijou couldn't fathom the question. Why would he have any desire to break into another person's room, let alone his friends?

"O-Of course not! Now let me go!"

Kamijou forced his way out of his friend's grasps.

From the looks of it, he had a look of relief followed by one apprehension on his face.

"Sorry about that. But someone did break into my room and they made off with something valuable."

Hurrying out the door Kamijou arrived outside of his neighbor's door. From the outset, everything looked perfectly fine. The door was intact and there were no obvious signs of forced entry.

It wasn't until Tsuchimikado touched the door handle and he saw it fall straight to the ground that he realized the cause of his worry.

"Do you want me to call Anti Skill. Do you know what they took?"

Tsuchimikado shook his head.

"Thanks for the worry but I got this. What the robber got was useless anyway so I should be fine. I was more worried about something else."

"?"

"In any case, I'm gonna head inside to get some sleep."

Before Kamijou could say another word Tsuchimikado had already stepped inside his dorm and closed it. From the sound of it, he had a chain lock installed already on the inside of the door so the door wouldn't fly open in the middle of the night.

Staring at the fallen door handle Kamijou could only wonder who could've broken into his friend's apartment and when.

It was probably earlier in the day since he would've heard if someone had been trying to break in, right?

Seeing as there was nothing he could do about the situation further he went to touch the door handle.

***Shatter***

"Huh?"

Kamijou stared quizzically at the object in his hands. Whatever had been used to break it had still lingered as his powers went off.

* * *

**Part 6**

Walking home Saten could only sigh as she saw the street lights come on.

The time was past curfew.

She was sure that Index was already home and could only grimace, imaging the total destruction that awaited for her return.

"Huh?"

From the corner of her eyes, she could see something.

"Misaka…..testing grounds…..reports Misaka"

She couldn't quite make out the words as whoever was speaking was too far away to properly hear.

The voice seemed monotone as though it was void of emotion.

Rushing to where she thought she heard the voice she found herself in an alley.

While the street lights were on the alleys were only dimly lit with one or two fluorescent lights attached to the side of the building, barely showing anything at all.

However, even in the dark environment, Saten could make out the clothing of the person who was also in the alley.

She had shoulder-length light-brown hair, good looks and features, a white short-sleeved blouse, a summer sweater, and a pleated skirt.

From features and uniform to accessories, there could be no doubt about it: "Misaka Mikoto" was standing there.

"Misaka? What're you doing out here?"

With a face covered in the shadows of the night, the girl slightly turned her head at the unexpected visitor and began to walk deeper into the alley eventually becoming fully wrapped in darkness with her entire figure being lost.

"Wait! Misaka where are you going!?"

Following the figure in the pitch-black alley, Saten could quickly feel chills roll up and down her spine, even in the summer climate.

The entire atmosphere around her had changed as she quickly realized she could barely see two feet in front of her anymore.

Looking at her surroundings she couldn't find see anything other than the paved ground beneath her feet and the walls of the surrounding buildings that seemed to close in on her.

Fearing that she'd get lost or worse if she continued the pursuit she slowly made her way back to where she was originally.

Even though her friend was a Level 5 and could even stand up against a small army if need be, she couldn't help but worry about her.

As she slowly made her way back to the entrance of the alley, she stole one last glance into the alley.

Peering in the darkness of the alley she could make out something.

Suddenly, Saten froze.

She saw something that made her entire body shiver down to her core.

She saw what looked like a person completely surrounded by darkness staring at her.

However, whoever was must've been wearing some sort of headgear as their eyes were being covered by something.

As she looked down at the figure she saw something that resembled a rifle in the person's hands.

She couldn't help but fall to her back as she realized that whoever was in the shadows had noticed her looking at them.

Her heart stopped as she heard the sound of something metallic clicking.

Closing her eyes she could only wait for the inevitable.

"..."

Her heart nearly dropped as she opened them once again to see that the figure was gone and the lights from the alley were now shining brighter completely illuminating the alley.

Not wanting to push her luck saten ran as fast as she could go back to the safety of the streets and back to her dorm.

In the back of her mind, she couldn't tell if what she saw was real or not. How could it be, if it really was Misaka then she would've never had something like a rifle of all things on her.

* * *

Slamming the door shut, Saten couldn't help but fall to her knees in relief.

"Ruiko. Are you okay?"

Raising her head Saten could see the look of concern painted on the silver-haired girl.

With a heavy breath, Saten nodded.

"S-Sorry about that."

"Are you sure you're okay? You look like you've seen a ghost. You're so pale."

Placing her hand on her forehead Index made full use of her rudimentary caretaking skills and led Saten to her bed.

"Here lay down, I'll go get you some tea Etsu made me to help cool down your nerves."

Complying Saten smiled.

It wasn't often she was being taken care of, especially by Index but it felt good all the same.

After calming down a bit Saten seemed relaxed enough to call someone on her phone.

"Saten? Are you okay?"

"M-Misaka...were you following me?"

"Huh? No why? Did something happen?"

"N-No nothing."

She could hear an expired groan over the phone.

"If it was nothing then you wouldn't have called. What happened?"

"Well...I was on my way home and I thought I heard something coming from an alley and.."

"How many times do I have to tell you not to go wandering into places like that at night! Are you okay?"

"I-I'm fine just a little shaken up. Though I don't think what I saw was real. I couldn't really make out who it was and it all happened so fast."

"Do you want me to get Kuroko to have Judgement investigate."

"No, No, No even if it was real whoever it was wasn't trying to hurt me. It was more me being spooked than anything."

Chuckling to herself Saten shot her theory at Misaka.

"Personally I think it was a ghost that was following me in that alley."

Misaka could hear the small shriek in the background.

It would seem that Index had fully bought Saten's baseless theory.

"In any case, I'm glad you're okay. If you need anything just call, okay?"

Saten smiled as she replied.

"You got it!"

Hanging up, Saten turned her head to see that Index was huddled in her bed holding Sphinx.

At least she didn't have to worry about cooking tonight.

"Ruiko I'm hungry, can you make something to eat?"

I spoke too soon.

* * *

**August 11**

**Tokiwadai Dorms**

**12:00 AM**

Laying on her bed Misaka Mikoto couldn't help but stare at the ceiling, unable to fall asleep.

It wasn't as though she wasn't tired it was more like she was missing something.

Like she had forgotten to do something very important.

She had been feeling this way ever since she had left Saten at the Café.

On her way back to her dorm, she found a group of three or more so thugs beaten to a pulp in an alley where Anti Skill was investigating.

Something inside of her told her that she had missed something important.

Her feelings were only exacerbated when she received a phone call from her friend telling her that someone might have been stalking her in the night.

She was going to go investigate herself, mostly as an excuse to ease that feeling in her heart, but was quickly stopped by her roommate who had overheard her conversation already and had already alerted Judgement.

Now with nothing to do and no excuse to leave her dorm she just stared at the ceiling, hoping to fall asleep.

All the while with the feeling in her heart that she had missed out on something very important.

* * *

**Accelerator's Hospital Room**

**8:00 AM**

"Well congratulations Accelerator, you're finally free to go."

Accelerator stared at the frog faced doctor who said this to him.

"Free?"

Those words meant more to him than he knew. Was he really free?

"Yes free. Like everyone, you can leave now. However, whether you chose to, is up to you."

"Huh?"

"If per se you weren't feeling well, with your recent compound fracture and all I could extend your stay but that would be up to you."

"Oh."

He knew what he was leading onto.

Staring out the window, he could see the sky as the bright sun finally began to rise.

There were only a few more hours until the experiments started again.

Standing up from his bed, he made his way to the door.

It was going to be a long day.

* * *

**Author's Notes**

**The next chapter will be an Accelerator SS! What will happen on this final day of his break!?**


	35. Chapter 35 Accelerator SS

**Hey guys Thanks for reading Certain Scientific Counter! Thank you for everyone who left a review and I'd like to thank my Beta-Reader Graeskog for helping me edit this chapter. I wrote this chapter in a different format than the others due to it being an SS. This arc is turning out to be a long one. The day is currently August 11 and the arc officially ends on August 22, so there are ways to go. Anyway, Railgun T has been slated to release January 2020 cant wait! Thank you for sticking by me and without further ado Q&A,**

**Oracle-of-the-Void- Thank you so much for the praise. And to answer that question you'll need to read below. Thank you for your comment and here's the newest chapter.**

**Aminadab Brulle- Good to be back. And yes Dark Matter is a pretty level headed guy with a determination, even in the light novel he only goes after people directly opposed to him and hates involving outsiders, unlike Meltdowner. And yes our Urban Legend expert stumbled on something she was not supposed to see. And now we'll see what our Albino boy has been doing.**

**Fortitude501- Yep, thanks to Measure Heart keeping the piece we didn't have to see Touma's dorm become a battlefield full of Dark Matter. And Tsuchimikado was panicking because he realized someone broke into his dorm. And Saten stumbled upon some secrets...**

**D. - Yes! After many Moons, I am finally here! I was planing this arc from the moment I finished the Golden Days Arc! And you'll see what he took in due time. And Kakine is the #2 Level 5 so he has a ways to go before getting out of the mindset that he is the only #2 in the world.**

**tsun- Yes no fighting, yet...And he stole something that will be important later.**

**BlueJack22- Yes he did. But this boy still hasn't gotten an allowance since the beginning of summer.**

**nameless- They are all falling together. And we're only at the beginning so we have a ways to go. And Misaki wanted Shirai in particular not just because of her power but for her loyalty. In Misaki's eyes, Shirai's loyalty to Mikoto is something she has only seen with Junko so far, its more like she wants Shirai's pure platinum loyalty than her actual power, though she wouldn't be opposed to Awaki working for her. For your ideas, I already have something in store for that if I do make it that far. Thank you for your comment!**

**Guest(Chris)- Thanks! And Dark Matter is a chill person when he's not being antagonized by others. Unlike Meltdowner he doesn't like to pick on weaker people and will only do so when they get in his way, but unlike Accelerator he doesn't show any mercy. And the thing he stole from Tsuchimikado will be important later. And from Index's perspective, he basically was, he had wings that were made from things unknown to creation, in fact, if Dark Matter went back in time with those wings litterally everyone would believe he was a legit Angel. And Measure Heart has to be when she works with the Dark Side and especially with Dark Matter. And DM based his wings off of the freedom aspect of the tale, he doesn't like to be tied down to anyone's plans but his own in fact his goal isn't to actually kill Accelerator but to have leverage against Aleister Crowley. And yeah, Touya Kamiko you airhead. And I already have a plan for this arc, Fate can't be changed but it can be altered. Thanky you for the Review.**

**Chris- No problems, I got it.**

**JeaSonDash-Nah if I was gonna stop I'd just put up the Hiatus thing. The arc itself will take a long time to write down, I already have everything planned out on a composition notebook so all that's left is to write it out. I'm hoping to finish before January though.**

**Im The Person- I'm glad you like it and thank you for the praise. I try to keep every character as close as to what they would be in cannon as close to possible only altering them when they face new things that help them develop. And I'm glad you like the Humor. I try to put most of the humor during the in-between chapters when something serious isn't going on. But do not worry the humor will be plentiful. I'm glad you like their friendship, it was one of the things I've always wanted to see, two people from different backgrounds but who once held the same morality. And he's not in the Tags yet...yet. But yeah I'm glad you like their dynamic and don't worry we'll be seeing a lot of them together. And I like your ideas! Though since the experiment was postponed the number ount wouldn't be that high.**

**And to answer your question about Touma's stats, the reason why they don't increase is due to the fact that he was changed from a regular esper to a Gemstone. Remember in the chapter where Shirai explained Gemstones to Uiharu, their stats will never increase or decrease once they were named into there specific category, it was why Shirai felt bad for him, no matter what he does, no matter how much he tries he will never raise in his ranking due to how the system for Gemstones operate by. Touma's Unknown factor shot through the roof though, but since he hasn't gotten an allowance in so long he doesn't know by how much. And Touma's much more of a Joker Tier character, he can beat any of the Level 5s with his powers but it just takes one guy with kung fu skills to take him out. None of the Level 5s would be opposed to him joining there ranks, with the exception of Meltdowner who would try to kill him if he surpassed her in the ranking, but he doesn't qualify since he doesn't have an active power that can be tracked by the SYSTEM scans without outside assistance (Left Hand).**

**And so far Touma has met all the Level 5s with the exception of the #4. Though she knows of him through Frenda but has never met him in person yet. Though he wouldn't be opposed to being there friends...if he can survive them that is.**

**Thank you for your review!**

* * *

**Accelerator SS**

**August 10**

I woke up in my hospital room.

It was really bright. I hated that, but I felt pretty well-rested.

"Ahhhh!"

The door slammed open and I could hear the cries of the guy who put me in here in the first place, Kamijou Touma. Except he wasn't alone, he was with that ringlet haired girl we met before and was he shirtless?

Let's take a minute to review what's happened.

I'm the first ranked Level 5 'esper' in all of Academy City, Accelerator, although these days after some dumb bet some people call me Yuki…

For whatever reason, I decided to step in when two so-called magicians tried to cripple the guy in front of me who is currently sobbing to himself muttering something under his breath.

Normally when dealing with those types of people I could just flick my wrist the wrong way at them and be done with it since I can reflect all vectors around me with my ability **Vector transformation**, but that wasn't the case this time.

For whatever reason, it seemed that those two could produce something 'different' and because of that, I couldn't reflect any of their attacks.

To make a long story short, the redhead 'magician' who could manipulate fire basically fucked up my organs and if it wasn't for that mess of a guy in front of me, I probably would've died on the spot.

Ironic since the entire reason I even got involved was to put him in the hospital myself, but you know…

Because of that little incident, I got myself stuck at the hospital for a week since having your organs go out on you wasn't fun enough to deal with.

Ever since then, I've been getting myself involved in even weirder stuff than I had been before.

Turns out that the hot mess in front of me is a 'Gemstone'. Someone who was innately born with powers from birth, unlike me an 'Esper' who was given these powers by the Power Curriculum Program here in Academy City.

It seemed that the two who I fought before were also Gemstones, at least going off what Kamijou was saying.

And might I say that Gemstones are the definition of Bullshit.

The girl who was one of the people responsible for putting me here in the first place was a self-proclaimed Saint and was carrying a 2 meters long Katana, she could manipulate exotic energies. Something that could bypass my Reflection. And do you know what she was...

A Gemstone…

That's not even mentioning the guy from yesterday who could bend reality with his words.

Honestly, what kind of bullshit Deus Ex Machina crap is that! I knew something was off with Gemstones when I found out that they had an entire sports arena themed research facility built for them but still.

So now I find myself here.

In front of a guy who is shirtless by the way, trying to explain why he was sleeping with someone to a ringlet haired girl who looked way too old to be into some frog.

What the hell has my life become…

In the beginning, I thought I'd just hang around the guy to see how he was able to get past my Reflection. But soon enough I found myself in the middle of a fight with the so-called magicians. During the fight, Kamijou saved me from one of their attacks knowing full well that he would be sacrificing his safety for mine. Well, there were other things too, but in the end, we became 'friends'.

Honestly, for the longest time, I couldn't have cared less if everyone in the world just dropped dead. But now, I sort of feel like I want to help out.

"Ah..."

Kamijou woke up from his daze and rubbed his eyes.

"Sorry about that. Can I stay here for a bit?"

I could explain why having someone barge in your hospital room unannounced was already a good way to get rejected but I let it pass.

Besides, it's always amusing watching the universe mess up that guys day.

* * *

I finished eating my breakfast and made my way to the examination room.

I entered the room and sat down at the examination table.

This was my morning routine for the past week or so since this was the first time I've ever been to a real hospital before and they were giving me every kind of test you could think of.

Normally people would go have a check-up every year to make sure they didn't catch any sickness but not me. With my reflection, I'd always been able to reflect any viruses or bacteria that I might come in contact so the only real check-up I would get was the bare minimum to see if I was healthy enough to preform more experiments.

So, it's only natural that people would freak out that I was sent to the hospital for organ failure.

Though I could only assume that they were only worried about me since they would lose their prized #1 if I did kick the bucket.

"Well, well, aren't you early?"

"Hmph."

He looked over at me and sighed.

He was the same frog-faced doctor who somehow managed to revive my near-dead organs back to a normal state. While he was well aware of my reputation and my past he was one of the few people who didn't treat me any differently than any of his other patients.

He was an older man, plump, wearing the average attire of a doctor his most distinct feature was that of his face that had the distinct look of Gekota. Something that the runt was kind enough to point out.

The examination went on as it always did, with me lying on the table waiting for the results to come back.

"Ohh…"

"Huh?"

This was new. Usually, he would just give me a clean bill of health and let me go.

Was there a problem?

"I thought you would have grown an inch or two, my bad."

"Gwah?"

What the hell was that supposed to mean? I almost blew up at him but managed to control myself.

I didn't want to ruin our relationship. Who knows when I might need his services in the future?

"In any case, you seem to be doing alright for yourself. Let me just get that cast off your arm."

I showed him the arm in question without any resistance.

The faster he got it off of me the better.

Honestly, how do people put up with these for months? After a few hours it was already starting to get irritating, I couldn't imagine the discomfort people who had these on for years had to deal with.

Once it was off of me, I tried clenching my fist and other basic hand exercises.

As I thought, it was as good as new.

The doctor really was as good as he claimed. After getting my arm snapped like a twig by that reality warper a few days prior I thought for sure that there would be in that thing for at least a year.

"Can I go now?"

The doctor nodded.

"Just be sure you don't do any more strenuous activities like what got you sent here before."

I could only groan as I walked out of the room.

* * *

With my arm now out of the cast, I decided to go get some fresh air, or at least as fresh as you can get in a city of science.

I didn't really have anything better to do today since Kamijou was off trying to make up for his lack of funds.

How he would accomplish that was anybody's guess. The guy only had 200 yen left in his account and from the witch's lifestyle coupled with the runts eating habits, I wouldn't be surprised if he would be in debt before the weeks' end.

From the sounds of it, he was planning on selling his stuff for some quick cash which wasn't a bad idea except to do that you had to have things of value, not things bought at a value price.

The moment I made it outside I couldn't help but sigh.

It really was boring not having that guy around. At least when he was around things would turn out to be interesting.

"Yuuukiii!"

That voice rang out as loud as a microphone even on the semi desolate streets.

I turned my head sideways to catch a glance at the runt before she decided to grab ahold of my new shirt.

I usually had one that was custom made but all the ones I had with me were stained with my blood, so I made do with the plain light gray shirt that was provided to me at the hospital.

The little runt who was currently grabbing ahold of my shirt was named Index.

She had white skin, a short build, long silver hair that reached her waist, and green eyes. She also wore a showy white nun's habit with gold embroidery that was reminiscent of a nouveau riche teacup. She would have stood out anywhere.

She was a foreigner that Kamijou had taken upon himself to protect from the so-called magicians. Inadvertently, I ended up helping him save her by taking out the magicians so now I was stuck with a similar treatment as him.

She wasn't a bad kid, it was more that she lacked any form of common sense when it came to the real world.

It's not surprising since up until a few months ago the so-called magicians were erasing her memories over and over again in some idiotic attempt to save her.

Idiots.

"Oi, what do you think you're doing?"

"Huh?" She pouted her face at me while looking annoyed, "Are you even supposed to be out of the hospital yet?"

I rolled my eyes at her question.

It was so dumb that I didn't even bother responding and just made my way past her.

While physically I wasn't the strongest person by any stretch of the imagination, I was sure as hell stronger than a 4'10 kid with no upper body strength whatsoever.

So that's why she was currently being dragged by me while trying her hardest to tug on my shirt.

Under normal circumstances, I could've just reflected her hand off my body with my ability but that would be too much force.

It was like calling an airstrike on a kid for staying out past curfew, not a proportional response to use on a kid who didn't know any better.

"Ahh, Index! What're you doing!?"

The voice coming to my left was also familiar.

It was the girl who was currently this kid's babysitter, I think her name was Saten Ruiko?

Whatever her name was she helped pry Index off of me, much to the silver-haired girl's chagrin.

"Hmph!"

She turned her head in a huff at me like the situation was somehow my fault.

After receiving an apology from Saten. I shrugged.

It wasn't like it was anything new, and from the way she treats Kamijou, it was a lot better than getting bitten.

Although if she did even try that I already knew a good doctor to take her to.

Not that it would ever actually happen, she was smart enough to know not to pull anything like that on me.

Unlike the idiot, I repay absurdity in kind.

"Come on Ruiko, let's go see Touma!"

With Saten in hand, she marched towards the entrance of the hospital.

"He already left."

"!"

That seemed to stop her in her tracks.

"Eh!? Touma already left!? We have to go find him!"

She grabbed my hand and started dragging me with her towards the city.

* * *

I was wondering how we could find the guy but I quickly realized that she really didn't have an interest in finding him.

How did I come up with this conclusion you may ask?

Well, it might have to do with the fact that we ended up in an outdoor restaurant for brunch!

"I want this..and this, oh I also want that and-"

Her order seemed to go on forever as I just sat at my seat taking sips of the water I was lucky enough to order before her.

After what seemed to be an eternity, she finished her order.

Though the server didn't bother to take our orders as he left in a rush to get to the kitchen.

I really couldn't blame him, from his perspective one would assume that she was ordering for everyone at the table and not just herself.

My day was turning out to be less boring than I originally planned.

However, out of the corner of my eye, I could see Saten trying her hardest to not look like she's looking over my shoulder while looking over my shoulder.

Not wanting to be left out in whatever she's looking at, I turned around.

It was just some dumb kids that were playing with what looked like an envelope.

"Gimme! That's mine!"

"Nuh-uh! I found it first, you just ran there and grabbed it before I could!"

The kids looked like they were fighting over it as the one-child pounced onto the other in an attempt to take it out of their hands.

I turn my head back towards her and she turns her head away.

I went to say something, but she cuts me off.

'S-Say Yuki-san, what level are you?"

"Stop bothering me with dumb questions."

She seemed to shrink after I gave her my response.

It wasn't as though I was opposed to giving her my Level it was more that she only asked that question to avoid the subject at hand.

"Do you know what those brats over there are doing?"

She averted her eyes as she mumbled something.

"Money cards?"

"What?"

I've heard about them before, they were as their name implied, cards that hold money, but that didn't explain anything for me.

"..There's a rumor going around that someone's been hiding money cards in out of the way places around the city, I didn't think it was true until I saw those kids over there…"

There was a look of envy on her face as she said this.

"...If you want, I could watch the runt until I find someone to drop her off with."

I offered, though I don't understand why I did.

"R-Really?"

She had this look in her eyes that was mixed with relief and gratitude.

"Yeah."

Without wasting another second, she got up from her chair and handed me what looked like a small book bag that I recognized.

Apparently, it was a limited edition run from a famous bookbag company that was worth well over 150,000 yen. I know this since I was there when she picked it out. I was worried that she might lose it on her first day but soon realized that it was more Saten's bag to carry Index's things around in style than anything.

It was like her Index kit.

"Be good Index, bye!"

She shouted this as she ran out of the restaurant faster than I've seen most pro track stars run.

"Huh? Where's Ruiko going? I wanted her to share some of her meal with me."

"Isn't gluttony unbecoming of a nun?"

Index wheeled around towards me with the same expression a child might make if their mother suddenly told her she couldn't have her dessert after dinner.

A look of hurt and despair which only caused me to sigh again.

"I'll never get used to this…"

Right as I muttered this a pair of tiny hands punched at my legs

* * *

"Alright! So where are we going to look first!"

I shrugged.

To be honest I never really expected we'd make it out of that restaurant in the first place.

The banquet that she called brunch took a full hour to prepare and another for her to scarf down.

To be honest I was having a hard time believing that she was so petite since what I saw her just eat could've fed an entire class.

"I guess we should just call him."

It was the simplest way to find the guy and it beats having to scour the entire city just to find him.

"I erm...my phone? It doesn't seem to work anymore…"

She averted her eyes to her feet as she handed me her phone.

How was it that she managed to break a brand-new phone in just a day?

I examined it for a good 10 seconds before realizing the problem.

"It's dead."

She coupled her hands on her face with a look of shock.

"I-I didn't mean it!"

I couldn't help but groan at her response.

"Not literally! The battery, it's out of power. You did charge it, right?"

"...Charge it?"

Why'd I even ask?

"Look just give it to that urban legends freak the next time you see her, she should be able to revive it. Hey why are in a rush to find him anyway?"

"That's because we need to plan the-GAH!"

She covered her mouth as though she was just about to release a state secret.

Right as I was about to question her about that I heard it.

Meow

Was that a cat?

"Did you bring your cat with you?"

She nodded.

"How?"

Index smiled as the cat she named Sphinx poked its head out of a hole in her shirt.

It seemed as though she domesticated the thing in the short time she had it as a pet.

I didn't know whether to admonish her for bringing it with her like this or to be impressed that she trained it so well, so I just ignored it altogether and pulled out my phone.

I quickly dialed his number and called.

.

.

.

"Yuki…"

.

.

.

"Yuki...I don't think he's picking up his phone.

.

.

.

.

"Yuki...it's been 10 minutes…."

.

.

.

.

That son of a bitch.

The one time I actually try to find him and he decided to ghost me!

"Index? Is that you?"

"Etsu! What're you doing here?"

Approaching was none other than the hikikomori herself, the #6.

Like me, she was a Level 5 but unlike me she was Gemstone.

She was some sort of a psychokinetic who was strong enough to manipulate gravity at will. To the average esper, she would seem invincible, in fact she even boasted about being able to fend off a thermal bomb, but to me, she was just some shut-in who was only a bit stronger than the average third rates of this city.

"I was just seeing if I could find Kamijou-san. How about you?"

"Same, me and Yuki aren't having any luck either."

For some reason or another, it seemed that the two of them had hit it off and become friends.

Suddenly an idea hit me.

"Oi shut-in catch!"

"Eh? What's this, a backpack? Hey, where are you going!?"

"Make sure to drop her off at the Urban legends freak's place when you're done."

I waved her off as I made my way down the street.

She was trustworthy enough to leave in charge of the runt. Coupled with the fact that she was a Level 5 and I didn't have to worry that some cultist would try to take her again.

Honestly, if I left the runt to her own devices who know where she'd end up. I've seen enough of this city to know that if you dropped off some innocent kid like her in the middle of it someone would no doubt try to take advantage.

It seemed that the two of them weren't planning on following me any further so I made my way to somewhere else I had in mind.

* * *

After walking for what seemed like forever, I finally made it to my destination.

An alley.

In just one day this would be where the next experiment would take place.

I felt my blood rising hot up my neck. What the hell was going on? What the hell? What the hell?

It wasn't as though it would be any different than it has been before.

I already talked to Index about these so-called perfect golems and she said that they were only hypothetical.

Considering the dolls as actual people would be an actual stretch than anything.

It's the same as when people consider characters in video games as real. Sure, they had personality but that's only because it was programmed into them. While you might have some sort of emotional attachment to them that doesn't make them any more real than the pixels on the screen that they were presented on.

But even knowing all of this, I could still feel my blood boil.

"Hey shrimp! Gimme your money."

I couldn't even be bothered to turn around.

Whoever it was, was probably some no named loser out to make a quick buck.

I've seen my fair share of those types though that was only at night when I…

What the hell was in his hands….

"**Where did you get that**?"

My eyes were immediately fixated on what one of the goons had in his hands.

It was a vanilla colored backpack, the same one that belonged to Index.

There was no way these third-rate shits could've possibly beaten the #6 so all that's left was that they stole it from her when she wasn't looking.

Those bastards

They were disgusting.

They were probably thinking they could make a quick buck stealing from a naive girl, while in reality, all that was in there was her cell phone and some random junk she collected over the day.

Could they be any worse?

"Huh!? Who the hell do you think you are mouthin off to, you little punk!"

I was glaring at these rats as if I could kill them with my eyes.

They were lower than trash.

"**I said where did you get the bag!?**"

"So you're going to resist, eh!?"

One of the rats hit me.

It made a good sound, his fist. But it didn't hurt. It didn't even irritate me. The rat, rather, seemed to have hurt his fist. He was cradling it like a baby bird as he stepped away from me while sobbing.

"Wha-Wha?!"

The other two seemed to get the message as they all immediately started to back up.

I swung my arms to get the blood flowing again.

"T-This is what you wanted, isn't it?"

The one rat who was carrying the bag threw it at the ground in front of me.

The pure vanilla-colored bag was now covered in all the grime and filth that covered the alley's ground.

Seeing that only made me more pissed.

***Clink…***

Ah, yes. I remembered the stash I had hidden in my pocket.

"Check it out! This is what you wanted, isn't it?"

I removed it from its spot. It was the last 80 yen I had. I threw one coin forcefully at a nearby dumpster.

***Boom!***

"AHHHHHHHHH!"

They started screaming and rolling around on the floor.

I went up and grabbed the now filthy bookbag and put it over my shoulder.

There was no reason to get it dirty with the blood of these rats.

* * *

Leaving the scene, I could feel myself calm down if only just a little.

Checking if they had taken anything I was slightly relieved to find that nothing was missing.

They probably saw it was all junk and planned on selling the backpack itself for a profit.

I've been walking for what seemed to be an hour as I made my way down the streets.

Saten should be able to clean off what those damned rats did and if not I'd probably just get her a new one.

The shut-in probably handed the bag to the runt in the first place thinking that she was responsible enough to watch over it herself.

As if.

***whoosh!***

As I made my way down the street I could only describe what I saw as a blizzard of envelopes all flying away from what looked to be another alley.

How great, not like I didn't have enough of those in my life.

I cracked my neck and made my way towards the alley.

It was near enough for me to not have to run towards it before the hailstorm of envelopes finished flying overhead.

It's a small back alley. Even though it's past noon the sunlight has yet to reach this area, the dimly lit dark alleys formed a complex maze as if to deter people from entering.

Once I finally reached the entrance and made my way inside, I was greeted by some girl who looked like she was having a bad day.

She was wearing a lab coat but it wasn't buttoned properly so I could see the school uniform she wore underneath.

Nagatenjouki Academy, I went there for the briefest of times before the experiments went underway but as always, they seemed to not want me around the general populace and kept me cooped up in some room by myself.

In the end, I dropped out. What was the point in going to school if I already knew everything there was in the curriculum?

Still, that didn't take away the fact that they were one of the top-ranked schools in Academy City.

So what was this student doing here?

"Oi."

She seemed to jump as she heard my voice echoed through the alley.

When she turned around to see me a look of horror washed over her face.

It was the same look a child would make at its parent when they were caught red-handed.

Seeing her face clearly for the first time I couldn't help but feel as though I've seen it before.

"Hey, do I know you?"

"N-No."

Liar.

She was currently backing up from me slowly as I walked towards her.

I know I've seen her before, and it wasn't like she had one of those faces either.

"Now I know I've seen you before."

There was no reason for her to back up from me unless she knows who I am. From the outset, I look like some scrawny teenager in need of a tan. Plus she seemed the type smart enough to leverage the fact that she went Nagatenjouki to scare off any potential attackers.

"..."

She went silent as she started to freeze up.

Since I started becoming independent, I'd learned a thing or two about how to get your way.

The first of which were threats. If you had the power you could use it to force people to agree to things they normally wouldn't. For me, that wasn't a problem, a quick flex of my power would usually get the job done This strategy worked best on haughty individuals.

But looking at the way this girl was acting, she was already a push away from passing out on me if I did show her my abilities.

The next was a negotiation. We form our relationships with people based on the ebb and flow of conversation. It works best on people who aren't antagonistic. This girl wasn't exactly antagonistic. She was scared.

If neither of these methods would work on her, it must mean that…

"You know exactly who I am."

She didn't say a word as she started shaking.

Seeing how she was reacting, she was probably someone involved in the experiments.

Things were starting to make sense.

She was already well aware of who I am and what I'm capable of so any type of threat would have her completely shutting down on me and any negotiation would just end in her lying to me in fear for her life.

If I wanted her to budge, I could make her, but in doing so I would have to do some unsavory things and I just wasn't in the mood for that anymore.

"Whatever I guess I got you mixed up with someone else. Sorry for wasting your time."

When I said this, she looked slightly disappointed.

When I finally walked past her I could hear her mumble something to herself.

"Sorry…."

I didn't reply, I just kept walking forward irritated.

She was probably some genius who was recruited to work on the project. It probably wasn't even me who she was apologizing too.

* * *

Curfew was drawing near as I finally made my way towards Saten's dorm.

The street lights were on so I'd assume she'd be home by now.

I knocked on the door to her dorm only to hear a small scuffle in the background and then the door swung open.

"Yuki!"

I was greeted by that same bright and cheery face from the silver-haired runt.

"You lost this."

She had a look of shock on her face as she frantically turned around to look at her bed only to realize that this was her bag.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"

She was apologizing so furiously it was starting to get annoying.

I guess she thought I would be mad.

But how could I be when she didn't even realize it wasn't her fault that it got stolen anyway.

I walked over to her. I reached out my hand, but she curled away from it.

"Oh come on..."

I set my hand on her shaking shoulder.

"Just don't lose it next time."

She looked at me confused.

"Uhh...aren't you mad?"

"What's the point of being mad at a repentant person. Don't worry about it, just don't let it happen again."

In any case, the backpack was still in working condition but was still filthy. I wondered if Saten could get out the stains.

I went over to her and explained the situation, she was surprisingly understanding of the situation and got out of bed and started to try to clean the bag as best she could in her washing machine.

Index kept walking beside me like she was the worst thing in the world. It was getting on my nerves.

"I told you not to worry about it!"

"... Okay."

... She was an honest kid. But if I told her how she really lost her bag it might cause more problems for me down the road.

"Ah..."

Her stomach was growling again.

Her face flushed red from embarrassment.

Saten's face smiled.

"Do you want a snack?"

"Uh..yeah."

I raised my eyebrow.

"Okay, here's your punishment, no late-night snacks."

"Eh!?"

I could see her start to sweat already.

She looked downtrodden at first, but her thinking it was punishment, she nodded and went to her bed.

"So why do you look like you've seen a ghost?"

"Eh? W-What'd you mean?"

"You're quieter than I've ever seen you before, what happened?"

Seeing that lying to me wasn't an option, she told me what happened.

"Hmmm."

"D-Don't look at me like that? I-I know what I saw was crazy, but it really did happen ...I think."

I sighed as I got up from the chair I was sitting on.

"Look just forget about whatever you saw. It was probably just your imagination."

I headed out the door without another word.

* * *

I headed towards the alley she was talking about. Though I didn't hold out much hope that whoever was there was still there.

Coming towards the opening I could already see why someone like her would get scared.

The entrance to the alley was barely lit and the walls were narrower than usual due to one of the building's odd designs. Seeing this in the pitch-black night would make most people think twice about entering here.

But not me.

After making my way towards the center of the alley I could hear it.

Shuffling.

"You can stop hiding now!"

"...Misaka wasn't hiding, reports Misaka as Misaka comes out from her hiding spot."

Appearing in the flickering lights of the alley was one of the dolls.

It had shoulder-length light-brown hair, a white short-sleeved blouse, a summer sweater, and a pleated skirt.

"I take it you're the next doll to be targeted in the experiments?"

It held the same emotionless doll-like face that it always did.

"Yes, Misaka is Serial Number 9865, responds Misaka. However, shouldn't you check using the passcode to ensure that Misaka is part of the experiment? suggests Misaka."

I clicked my tongue.

"What are you doing here? The experiments aren't supposed to start up until tomorrow or are you eager to start again?"

"Negative, replies Misaka, Misaka is just trying to get situated with the new environment, answers Misaka, after 17 days without combat Misaka feels as though she needs to get acclimated to get herself combat-ready, responds Misaka."

It's been 16 days so far, huh.

With everything that's happened to me so far, I guess I just lost track of time.

"Is that so? I didn't know that harassing the general populace was a part of your training."

"...Are you referring to the girl that spotted Misaka here earlier, asks Misaka looking for confirmation."

"Yeah, you know there's a reason why they give you a schedule, right? I mean I know your brain was just made 14 days ago, but I thought they drilled that fact into your skull by now."

Honestly was this doll defective or something? I know trying to get the lay of the land is a basic strategy but doing it in the middle of the night would only arouse more suspicion.

"...Misaka will take that under advisement, responds Misaka."

Hearing that monotone response pissed me off. I felt like smacking that thing across the street would make me feel better.

Instead of doing that, I opted to leave. I started to walk off.

But as I did, I heard the doll's voice speak up.

"...Misaka would like to inquire on how you came to know about Misaka's meeting with that unfortunate girl, asks Misaka."

She still held that same blank expression as it looked at me.

"Because I was stuck cleaning up your mess."

If it wasn't for me Saten would probably start singing her encounter with the doll from the rooftop.

"Oh…."

I swear all I wanted to do was get out of there. How long did I have to stand around talking to this doll?

"Misaka apologizes for having you work during your recovery period, says Misaka."

…

Did it just…

"Forget about it. I don't need to be talked down to, from some doll,"

"That wasn't Misaka's intention, clarifies Misaka. Misaka was just informed that the Test Subject Accelerator was undergoing a recovery period hence the 17-day postponement to the experiments, explains Misaka."

Just standing here was making me sick.

Hearing the doll's monotone voice was starting to wear on my nerves. I continued to walk past the doll.

"...If you know what's good for you, you'll stay the hell out of my way."

"?...It's difficult to understand what you mean by that, replies Misaka. The next experiment will start in 19 hours 8 minutes and 45 seconds."

I didn't reply.

I just kept walking.

* * *

I was back at the hospital.

I was lying in my bed just thinking about the experiments.

Up until this point in my life as an esper, I never actually experienced pain.

Sure, there were times that I was irritated but never had I felt pain like I did that first time I touched that black fire.

It was right around that same time that I started to think that I would lose to her.

Strange, up until that point I would've been relieved if someone managed to dethrone me if that were the case then I wouldn't have the whole world gunning for me.

But it was also around that time that I realized that I didn't want to lose either if I did lose then I would've died alongside Kamijou that day.

It was that fear, that emotion that made me want to get stronger.

Now compare that to the Level 6 Shift Project and I was left disappointed.

I went through nearly 10,000 dolls and never once did I have that sensation that 'drive' to get stronger.

I could effortlessly swat down 10 to 20 dolls at a time without even breaking a sweat, they could bring assault rifles, anti-tank rifles hell they could've even hijacked a fighter jet and I still wouldn't have worried for my life.

They told me that as the experiments went along the fights would get to be more difficult, but I wasn't seeing it.

They were all supposed to have a collective consciousness or something that would make the next one smarter than the last but thinking about it, what difference would that make?

You could be smart enough to find the millionth digit to pie, but that wouldn't make taking a bullet to the face any easier. So, how would knowing that my power can kill you in a touch help you defeat me?

Sure, they could run away, but that didn't mean they could get faster.

They were all programmed and premade with the same body so getting stronger wasn't an option.

Sure, you could arm them with state of the art weaponry, but that won't make them have any better of a shot of getting passed my reflection than any of the other people who already used that weapon against me.

Up until this point, I was going off of what the Tree Diagram reported in its calculations.

It said that if The Level 5 known as Accelerator were to fight the Railgun 128 times, he would achieve Level 6.

However, due to manufacturing defaults, they couldn't replicate the real Railgun's power and could only make subpar clones of her that at best reached Level 3.

Due to this Tree Diagram concluded that if I battled 20,000 of the Railgun's clones in 20,000 different battlefields that I would achieve what I wanted, Level 6.

"**Those who are not deities that reach the sense of the heavens**"

The ultimate goal of Academy City.

It was what that hack of a villain Therristina tried to accomplish with the coma kids.

Something so strong that no one would even dare to try to challenge you.

However, after seeing how these past couple of days turned out, can I really say that with a straight face anymore?

….It was the whole reason why I even started the experiments in the first place.

To become a Level 6….

….Why?

I can't seem to remember why that was my dream in the first place anymore…

It's like whenever I try to, my head gets fuzzy….

I can't seem to stay awake anymore…

* * *

**August 11**

I woke up in the same room that I was calling home for 17 days now.

My vacation time was up.

The doctor told me I could stay if I didn't feel well, but I knew I couldn't.

I already knew that this was going to end one way or another. Better to be the one to do it.

Without another word, I packed my things and headed out the door.

It was still early so the sun was barely up yet.

That's good, I wouldn't have to be hassled by traffic as I made my way back to my dorm.

I took one last look at what I called home and sighed.

It wasn't anything special, but for some reason, I felt heavy after looking back.

I continued walking forward.

"Yuuukii! Waiiiiit!"

My eardrums rang.

That familiar whine.

"Oi runt! What the hell are you doing here!?"

Without another word, she came rushing towards me with some envelope in her hands.

"Wai…..Wai ...Wai ...Wait….."

It seemed as though she was running for quite a while to be that out of breath.

"Here."

She shoved the envelope in my hands."

"What's this?"

With bright green eyes, she nudged towards the letter.

"Open it."

I complied and read the details.

* * *

**You've been invited to Yuki's Surprise Welcome Back Party! ( ͡ ͜ ʖ ͡ )**

**雪****\- Pure as the driven snow**

**Help us celebrate Yuki's return! (****ﾉ ****͡° ͜ʖ ͡° )****ﾉ*****:****･ﾟ✧**

**The food will be provided by Touma because he promised!**

**Where: Touma's House! **

**Time: 6:00 PM!**

**It's a Surprise Party so show up early! ( ✧≖ ͜ʖ≖) ~~**

* * *

"Heh heh heh heh!"

I couldn't help but laugh at this!

It was a surprise party!

She messed the most basic thing!

From the look of confusion, she was giving me, it seems that she didn't know what she did wrong.

After reading the invitation one more time I could tell that someone probably wrote these by hand, most likely her due to how crappy the drawing on it was.

"What's so funny?"

She had a serious look on her face.

"Nothing…"

She glanced over at the invitation then to me and came to a realization.

"Ohh…"

Did she get it?

"You don't have to show up early."

So close.

"You are coming, right?"

I glanced over at the time on the envelope and see that the party would start at 6:00 PM, right around the same time as the experiment.

"Probably not..."

I don't like to make promises that I can't keep.

She looked disappointed at that answer.

"...Oh…"

"...But if I did, I'd probably be late."

Why did I say that?

"Really!?"

"...Yeah."

I put the invitation in my back pocket and kept walking back to my old dorm.

"I'll be waiting for you, Yuki!"

I didn't say anything as I continued on my way.

Afterward, I realized how rude I was. But at the time it was all I was really capable of.

* * *

When I finally got back to my room I had to air out all the dust that had accumulated over the days I was gone.

Everything was still in one piece and the door was still locked so I assumed no one broke in.

Once inside I could see just how dark everything around me was. The curtains were drawn in so no light could seep in making the atmosphere all the more dreary.

It was a stark contrast to the white room I had in the hospital.

They say the bright colors help boost vitality so my guess was that was what they were going for there.

It was also a lot quieter.

My neighbors were never the rowdy type. Though I was only guessing that since I never actually seen any of them.

Pulling out my phone and setting my alarm, I started to lay down on my bed.

Closing my eyes I could feel the seconds turn into minutes.

In just a few more hours.

My old life was going to start up again.

They weren't real.

They all kept telling me they weren't real!

All they do is keep marching towards me in some meaningless way! They never once acted like a person!

They weren't real!

Real people annoy the hell out of you, real people eat enormous portions of food and act like it was nothing, real people have emotions and don't talk like a fucking robot!

They were all fake!

Even thinking about those things now was enough to make my hatred boil over.

.

.

.

.

'Pleased to meet you, Misaka answers'

I woke up in a pure white enclosed environment with one of the dolls.

What? Why does it have a gun? No how did I even get here?

Looking around I recognize the layout, it was where the experiment took place before we moved to the outside.

Sparing another glance at the clone I could see it was on the floor, twitching trying its best to get back up, most likely as a result of me flinging it across the room.

I remember this.

"**The first experiment isn't finished until you dispose of the experiment subjects behind you**."

"Eh?"

Why? Wouldn't I achieve the same results by just beating it? Why did I have to kill it?

"**Please continue the battle**."

What's the point? It's not like it's going to make a difference?

"Acknowledged… continuing the experiments...as Misaka obeys orders."

It was struggling to breathe.

Why? Why are you doing this, don't you want to live?

"Disposal? What are you ..."

***Pop!***

I could hear the shot as it echoed through the room.

It wasn't real

It wasn't…

"Yuki…"

"!?"

"What the hell are you doing here!"

There, lying in a puddle of her own blood was the same runt as before.

Her white Nun's habit was now soaked red and her glowing complexion was becoming paler by the second.

Her eyes that were once so full of life were growing dimmer as she struggled to speak.

"Dark... Deep... Like sinking to the bottom of the ocean... So this is death..."

It wasn't my fault!

She shot at me! I was just defending myself!

It wasn't my fault!

"**Yes, well Done!"**

What the hell was he saying!

"**With this, the first experiment has been concluded!**"

She's...she's dead…

"**There's no need to hold back, They've all been made from Drugs and Protein**,-"

What the hell is he saying! She was just trying to live the best life she could! After everything, she's been through. She didn't deserve this! She didn't deserve to be turned into fodder like this!

Hate!

Hate!

It's all this damn world's fault!

If people didn't try to attack me every other minute I would've never even considered this!

It's not my fault!

"**They're just like **_**Dolls**_**, Afterall**."

.

.

.

.

Dolls?

Looking at the corpse again I could see that it was the clone.

The...doll.

They're dolls, aren't they?

That's what they said.

That's what they all said...

* * *

***Beep!***

I woke up in my darkroom.

I remembered why I started this in the first place.

Power.

No, not just power…

**Absolute Power**.

Power so no one would even dare to challenge me again.

That's why I started this…

That's why I started piling up a bigger body count than most communities.

Why should I care if I kill them, they don't.

They just keep marching towards me like toy soldiers. Waiting for me to rip them apart piece by piece.

Looking at the time I saw that it was about to be 6:00 PM.

Getting up, I got dressed and left.

* * *

Stepping into the alley I could smell the air get mustier with each step I took.

While the sun was still out, the alley was dimly lit as only small rays of light leaked in enough for me to see my surroundings.

After walking what felt like an eternity I finally made it.

"So it's 5:55... I take it you're the next doll to be targeted in the experiment?"

She had the shoulder-length brown hair and the military goggles on her forehead. She wore the short-sleeved white blouse, summer sweater, and pleated skirt.

"Yes, Misaka is Serial Number 9865, responds Misaka. Are you ready to recommence the experiments, asks Misaka."

I took a deep breath.

"...Yeah."

There was no point in trying to go against it now.

Even while facing death in the face, the clone still had that same blank expression on its face.

Nothing was going to change from me backing out now.

I was nearly halfway there.

Just a little longer.

"Recognized, responds Misaka."

Staring at the clone I count as the minutes go by…

1

.

2

.

3

.

4

Just one more minute.

The clone puts on her military headgear in preparation for its death.

.

.

.

'********'

.

.

This was it….

***Sniffle***

What was that?

I look up to the clone and I can see that she was shaking.

"Hey what's the.."

I reached out my hand towards her, but she curled away.

"No, No please!"

What?

"Misaka...doesn't want to die!"

My heart stopped.

I could see the tears as they ran down her goggles.

Was this a trick?

I pulled out my phone to check the time

**5:59**

The clones were forbidden from taking any type of action against me before the designated time table.

So it couldn't be one

"Please! Misaka doesn't want to die!"

She was now huddled behind a trashcan, still shaking.

How?

"Oi. What the hell is this? Are you saying you don't want to die?"

She nodded her head while shaking.

Looking at her now...I could see that she looked different...

I looked at my phone for one last time

**6:00 PM**

She was still huddled in a corner.

Why?

This never happened before!

Why!?

Why after 9000 times did this happen!?

I could feel my blood as it started to boil.

I clenched my fist and walked up to her.

I had to do it.

I stretched my arm out to touch her.

It was the only way!

The only way I could get stronger!

It was…

"Please**…...**_**stop.**_"

My hand stopped short.

Those were the words I wanted to hear from the beginning.

I felt as though the dark shadows that were looming over me were starting to part.

I felt relief.

"Get outta here!"

"Huh?"

"I said get outta here! Are you deaf! Leave, scram! Do I have to spell it out for you! Get lost!"

I went into my pocket and pulled out my wallet. I grabbed all the bills inside and stuffed it in her hands.

I turned around from the clone.

"I'm done."

I headed out of the alley, but not before hearing something behind me.

"...Thank you…"

"..."

I couldn't say anything. It didn't make sense to me.

Nothing made sense anymore.

But I knew one thing for certain.

I had someplace I had to be.

.

.

.

.

My feet carried me to my destination.

Looking up at the staircase I could tell I had a long way to go.

After the first few flights, I could feel my breathing getting heavy.

It was now pitch-black outside.

The lights in the staircase must've been broken because I stumbled up more times than I cared to count.

Once I reached the floor I was walking towards, I could see it.

The bright lights of the room I was heading towards.

The air seemed to be light as I stepped closer.

Once I was close enough I could hear it.

The shuffling and bustling of people on the other side.

I reached my hand out to the door handle but stopped.

I didn't deserve this…

After everything how could I…

That light that was on the other side didn't belong to someone like me.

I was someone who should be left to rot in the darkness for all eternity.

There was no way I could ever go there.

Absolutely no way.

So why, why does my arm not want to pull back.

Why won't my body move forward or backward!

My mind and heart felt as though they were sinking.

.

.

.

.

***Clink***

"What're you doing? Come on. Everyone's waiting for you."

The light that peered open from the room flooded the darkness of the hallway.

My arm was still extended outwards as if trying to grab something.

Kamijou saw this and grabbed my hand.

"Come on!"

He grabbed my hand.

***Shatter***

And pulled me inside.

I felt kindness.

Kamijou squeezed my hand, and I squeezed back.

I'd be okay

If I was with someone who believed in me, I could take the first step.

My fight was only just beginning. I didn't need to rush, just take one step and a time.

And so I did.

* * *

**Epilogue**

"Praise me more Shinobu-san!"

"Alright, you're smart, okay. I'll admit controlling one of the Sisters was the right call but was it really okay?"

Misaki nodded

"He just needed a push in the right direction."

Misaki sighed.

"However, if he ever found out what I did, I'm sure he wouldn't hesitate to kill me on the spot."

Shinobu nodded.

"Now onto the next issue, the Sisters."

"What're you talking about?"

Hearing what Shinobu had said, Misaki couldn't help but grimace at the thought.

"It looks like 'he' isn't done with this after all."

* * *

**"_Out of the darkness and into the light only to be dragged back by the sins of the past. What an interesting tale..._"**

* * *

**Author's Notes**

**The and we've entered the first official chapter of the Sister's Arc.**

**The prologue was 3 chapters and the main part will probably be longer.**

**If you're wondering about the numbers, in cannon Shinobu implanted emotional code in the newest sister that was born on August 19, we later find out that sister was number 19090. We also learn from the Manga that on May 11 clone 9982 was born. With those numbers, we can assume that they spaced out the production of the clones to save money.**

**Also in that same month experiment 9802 was completed and they started moving the experiment outside. With this, we can see a trend that they use the clones in ways that express how many they would use at once. I suspect that the reason why they were so many around at the same time was to save in clean up costs since the experiments outside would require a lot of cleaning. The way the experiments would have to be laid out would be a one on one since Tree Diagram said that Accelerator had to both kill 20,000 clones as well as use 20,000 different battlefields so multiple clones being used in one setting would probably ruin the experiment.**

**In the Manga, we see evidence that contradicts this but I think they drew to add dramatic flair to the scene. Though this is just m way of trying to make sense of a crazy experiment like this.**

**I wonder what Shinobu meant by that?**

**Anyway, Thanks for reading.**


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